[sustran] Re: Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran

[ESG, INDIA]

Dear Pendakur,

Thank you for your reaction to our note.  We are certainly as worried as you
are about the conditions 'in the "largest democracy into world"?'.  The BMIC
Project is an absolute reflection of what is wrong with our decision making
processes and details are archived at www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic

Whilst we appreciate your supportive stand on building our railway
infrastructure better, I must admit that the point about why business people
prefer not to use is not very clear.  Yes the freight rates were a big
concern over time, but with innovative practices, such as in the Konkan
Railway, where lorries climb onto to specially developed carriages for a
small fee, the costs of freight transport has been found to be advantageous
to all, and there is less load on the NH-17, which incidentally has had a
high accident rate (sorry about this long sentence).  We believe similar
progressive practices on the Bangalore Mysore sector would help in reducing
traffic loads and make travel safer.

Finally, we are not saying NO to road development between these fast growing
cities.  In fact we are in support of the proposal to widen the existing
road.  Mr. Kisan Mehta's suggestions on this issue are well taken, and
integrating raised pavements should safeguard the interests of pedestrians,
cyclists, bullock carts, and a variety of other users.  Clearly, India is
not a country that can leapfrog into German or US standard highways, for
such high involvement of private vehicle use is meaningless in our economic
and cultural contexts.  One may even argue that given the future of travel
and transport in India is with public transport, developing expressways
would only serve a very very small section of the society at the cost of
everyone else.

My opinions surely are antithetical to yours, I agree, but these are based
on some deep reflections and analysis of being a constant road user here.

Leo Saldanha

  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org
[mailto:owner-sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org]On Behalf Of pendakur
  Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 5:49 AM
  To: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org
  Cc: In T S Reddy; In Sudarsanam Padam (h); In S L Dhingra; In Ramachander
Adi; In P. K. Sikdar; In KAVenkataram Setty; In K. Sundararajan; In Geetam
Tewari; In Dr. P. Anand; In Cse Anil Agarwal; In Cirt Sanjay Singh; In Chrd
BCS Kumar; In Bharat Indu Singal; In Avinash Sarna
  Subject: [sustran] Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran


  The road between Bangalore and Mysore is a mess, both in terms of
functional standards and quality of maintenance.  If we were to cancel this
project, what do you do with all the truck and passenger vehicles?  Simply
saying "no" may answer one question, but does not solve the problem.

  The improvement of the railways, as the Chinese have done, is one option
for a lot of passenger transport and some goods transport.  There are many
structural problems in more freight through the railways.  Ask the business
people as why they prefer to send by "lorries" than by railway.  They will
tell about time delays, inefficiencies, bribes, and theft.  Otherwise, where
is the logic for sending most of the goods by trucks?

  While there are many environmental, resettlement, and other property
issues that must be addressed, the simply "no" does not address the issues.

  One more thing.  No matter how many foreigners want to solve this issue
and come to the defence of "no roads" and "only railways', the only people
that can redirect the finances and the energies are the local people.  This
would be the client governments at the national and state levels.

  Whatever happened to democracy in the "largest democracy into world"?

  Cheers.
  V. Setty Pendakur
    ----- Original Message from ESG
      Press Release - July 04, 2002

      SHELVE BMIC – The "Enron" Of Road Development

      GoK should Immediately Implement the Expansion of SH-17 and Doubling
of Railway

      According to recent press reports, the Government of Karnataka (GoK)
has opted to expand the existing Bangalore-Mysore highway (State Highway-17)
from its present 2 lanes, to a 4-lane highway at the cost of Rs. 331 crores.
Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) officials have confirmed that
the expansion project has the following specifications: 2-lanes measuring 7
metres wide in either direction; a 2 metre median strip; shoulders and
embankments on either side. The total "right of way" would be 45 metres.
Although the width of the road and median will come to only 16 metres, it is
important to note that the shoulders will allow ease of passage to
pedestrians, farmers, bullock carts and the like, thus mitigating accidents
and ensuring a smoother flow of traffic. Total land acquisition between
Bangalore and Mysore would be only 65 acres.



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