Why are empty highways widened??
During the peak festival season in the last week of december 2005, happened to be traveling by road from Madurai to Kanyakumari. The highway is supposedly seeing heavy traffic, with the devotees in trucks driving to and from the Sabaraimalai, many Christians from Tirunelveli, Nagarcoil, Kanyakumari returning home, and tourists vehicles. Still the highways was most parts empty. The weather was very pleasant and the drive was not bad either.
But, the most disturbing part was the widening of these empty highways. The highway department seems to be in a hurry to chop off large number of trees, some of them rather huge all along the highways. One fails to understand why such a highway which is not very busy even during its peak season needs to extended in the first place. When the currently notorious ECR was being laid, there was a movement from environmentalists to point out the chopping of trees along the highways, that was from Chennai - there is going to be no such resistance in the dry plains of ramnad (virudhunagar district).
Meanwhile, almost 400 kms. away from Chennai in the coastal ramnad north of Devipattinam the ECR is being extended (see enclosed picture).
Invisible to the eyes of the activists and lobby groups, army of workmen are toiling away in these long stretches of country roads. The villagers in the roadside are reduced to spectators and a few small enterprises in the village making some money.
But, the most disturbing part was the widening of these empty highways. The highway department seems to be in a hurry to chop off large number of trees, some of them rather huge all along the highways. One fails to understand why such a highway which is not very busy even during its peak season needs to extended in the first place. When the currently notorious ECR was being laid, there was a movement from environmentalists to point out the chopping of trees along the highways, that was from Chennai - there is going to be no such resistance in the dry plains of ramnad (virudhunagar district).
Meanwhile, almost 400 kms. away from Chennai in the coastal ramnad north of Devipattinam the ECR is being extended (see enclosed picture).
Invisible to the eyes of the activists and lobby groups, army of workmen are toiling away in these long stretches of country roads. The villagers in the roadside are reduced to spectators and a few small enterprises in the village making some money.
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"Accidents on the rise on the East Coast Road" - news in The Hindu, 8/4/2006:
http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/08/stories/2006040818340300.htm