Somersault by members of all party delegation.

Due to the mounting pressure from the public to be affected, all-party delegation from Kerala sought 30-metre width for the proposed highway. Nevertheless, all on a sudden some members had a rethought and made an immediate somersault, fearing that they may be cased as anti-developmental, and stood against their earlier stand. In fact 60-90 metre wide highway is unsuited for this thickly populated state. Build-Operate-Transfer mode of road construction is undesirable to a democratic state and stance by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is acceptable in this regard. If the road traffic is permitted for price then what is the meaning of collecting a huge sum as fifteen year road tax?

In Kerala there is acute dearth of land. The sponsors of wide roads in Kerala are seemingly associated with land grabbers and realtors. It is not central ministers but miniters in Achuthanandan’s cabinet are keen to get land at a throw away price.

K A Solaman