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Sajeev Kumar V.

KOCHI, April 18

NATIONAL Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac), which has been entrusted with the task of carrying out a study for the development of a hill highway in Kerala, has started preliminary work in this regard.

The first phase of work has begun from Nandarapadave in Kasargode district to link NH-47 in Palakkad town, covering six northern districts.

The study would also identify the most feasible route on the basis of engineering surveys, socio-economic and traffic studies and environmental appraisal.

Mr V. Rajagopal, Deputy Chief Project Co-ordinator, Natpac, said that though there was no doubt about the role of this road in accelerating the overall development and its immense tourism potential, the problem of opening the missing links through the forests needs to be addressed seriously.

"However, considering the various constraints, the viability of developing the hill highway in phases can also be examined," he added.

Considering the long pending public demand and the socio-economic viability, the State Government in 1997 declared the plan to build a hill highway, mostly linking existing sections of various roads.

With the project not moving forward ever since and with pressure from various local quarters, Natpac was entrusted with the task of suggesting a feasible alignment, Mr Rajagopal said.

As the economy of the State has a strong foundation in agriculture, hilly regions play a predominant role, accounting for a major share of production in cash crops and spices, which are valuable earners of foreign exchange.

Moreover, large-scale migration of population from central Kerala to hilly regions has also resulted in far-reaching changes in the settlement and socio-economic scenario of the hilly regions.

The coastal region in the State is well connected by road, rail, water and air, while surface transport is the only means of transport in the production and distribution centres of hilly regions.

However, it was found that only major towns are connected by good roads, while a large number of settlements in the hilly areas remain unconnected.

Though the entire State is a corridor with tremendous potential for tourism development, the hilly regions in the east in particular offer a unique landscape with mountains and valleys covered in evergreen tropical forests containing a rich variety of flora and fauna.

A panoramic look at the pattern of development in the State shows that it follows mostly a north-south direction along the western corridor.

This is true in the case of roads (NH 47 and 17), Railways (Kanyakumari-Mangalore) and waterways (West Coast Canal).

Supplementary developments in the road sector mostly follow the east-west pattern, almost like one side of a rib.

Though there has been limited cross-integration of these networks covering the midlands too, the picture is entirely different in the hilly districts.

Consequently, people in the region incur heavy expenses in meeting their travel needs, which results in tremendous wastage of scarce resources.

The huge economic loss to the society can be reduced considerably by developing a north-south corridor along the eastern regions.

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