Road
Development Policy for Kerala, 1999
The
draft Road Development Policy for Kerala (1999) prepared
by the Government of Kerala, (GoK) underlines capacity expansion
of its primary road network as the key priority and an integral
element of the State's economic development strategy. The
policy's overall objective is to promote "a sustainable
road network providing connection to all cities, towns and
villages, and allowing safe and efficient travel between
them."
The
Government seeks to address the following key road sector
issues:
(a)
Addressing network deficiencies and improving road sector
financing:
The
draft road policy outlines Government's strategic approach
to improve the network capacity. GoK aims to rehabilitate
existing high- and medium-density corridors in a phased
and timely manner and upgrade the network to comply with
modern highway design standards. Greater emphasis will be
placed on road maintenance. PWD will be encouraged to contract
out maintenance and operations to private contractors on
a pilot basis and use more modern technology for road pavement
and treatments. The Government aims to provide adequate
funds to meet the growth demand, simultaneously exploring
avenues of private sector participation in the transport
sector. Since budget allocations alone are not expected
to meet the road sector's growing requirements, the State
intends to supplement its road sector resource allocation
by instituting a wider base of road user charges. The Government
recently legislated the establishment of a State Road Fund
that will seek to generate user charges through road tolls
and dedicated fuel levies. The Roads and Bridges Development
Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), recently established by the
GoK, will seek to raise funds through loans, shares and
grants from financial institutions in order to construct
and maintain identified roads and bridges. RBDCK recently
awarded contracts to build railway over-bridges in the state
and several NH bypasses will be built as BOT schemes in
the near future.
(b)
Enhancing institutional capacities:
The
Government has committed itself to improve the performance
of the road sector. In particular, steps are being taken
to modernise and improve the PWD's performance, covering
all its activities so that it keeps pace with new developments
and requirements. With this in view, a consultant was engaged
to undertake an Institutional Development Strategy (IDS)
study to help establish a strategy for developing the PWD's
technical, managerial and financial capabilities to effectively
manage the State road transport network and to be responsive
to road users' demands. Based on the study's recommendations,
an Institutional Strengthening Action Plan (ISAP) listing
the institutional development activities that are to be
implemented during the next five years and beyond was developed
and debated. The Government has formally endorsed the ISAP.
Based on the ISAP, the PWD is developing a programme for:
- human
resource development strategy
- improving
PWD's financial management capacities
- capacity
building for planning and policy functions
- a
management information system
- strengthening
environmental and social impact monitoring
- improving
procurement procedures
- strengthening
road safety engineering capacities
The
state PWD has started implementation of some of the above.
These measures are expected to reform PWD into a modern
agency that will serve as a knowledge provider, while sourcing
private sector capacities. ISAP implementation activities
will be supported by IDS technical assistance consultants
and three PWD staff working groups to seek institution-wide
feedback on the ISAP. The institutional development consultants,
who will serve as external experts to assist PWD in refining
and implementing the ISAP, will work closely with the staff
working groups that oversee,
- organisational
restructuring and institutional strengthening
- management
and quality systems
- Information
Technology and Management Information Systems
(c)
Reducing accident rates and mitigating environmental and
social impacts:
Kerala's
high accident rates have prompted the Government to address
road safety problems by introducing road safety audits for
new road projects and analysing accident blackspot locations.
PWD has developed, as part of project preparation, a draft
comprehensive and integrated State Road Safety Action Plan,
which includes recommendations for the following road safety
sub-sectors:
- coordination
and management of road safety,
- accident
data systems,
- safety
publicity campaign,
- safety
engineering,
- safety
education for children,
- traffic
legislation and enforcement,
- driver
training and testing,
- vehicle
safety standards,
- emergency
aid to road accident victims, and
- safety
research.
The
plan also recommends establishing a PWD Road Safety Unit.
As for environmental and social impact issues, the GoK's
approach is to identify potential impacts early in the planning
process and programme accordingly so as to avoid or mitigate
adverse effects of road development. The policy is to prepare
and implement Environmental Management Plans (EMP) whenever
required, and to develop codes for environmental practice
related to State road construction and maintenance.
