French road standards worthy of adoption: Dharam

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 27. The Minister for Public Works, Mr.Dharam Singh, said here today that as French road standards were one of the best in the world, they could be progressively adopted in India.

After inaugurating an Indo-French seminar on "Road techniques 2001" under the auspices of the French Embassy and the Agency for the International Promotion of French Technology and Trade (CFME- ACTIM), Mr.Dharam Singh said that the seminar was a follow-up of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Ministry of Public Works had entered into with the Transport and Housing Departments of the French Government in June last year.

He said the MoU provided for exchange of information between the two countries and providing expert services on roads.

France was approximately two and a half times the size of Karnataka. It had 27,000 km of national roads and 9,300 km. of motorways of which 7,000 km. was managed by public or private firms. France had a total of almost 10 lakh km. of roads against 1,32,000 km. of roads in Karnataka, Mr.Singh said.

He said although the 5.9 crore population of France was almost on par with that of Karnataka, the much larger availability of roads population-wise in that country was striking. The remarkable improvement France had shown from 1960 when there were only 170 km. of motorways there to the present 9,300 km. of motorways was worth emulating.

Mr.Singh said that Karnataka had embarked on an ambitious programme to improve roads that included the World Bank-assisted Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project covering 2,268 km. of roads at an estimated cost of Rs.2,030 crores.

Mr.Singh said that with NABARD assistance, the State had undertaken improvement of 13,675 km. of roads and construction of 351 bridges at an estimated cost of Rs.887.70 crores.

Under the Central Road Fund, the State had taken up work of road improvement at an estimated cost of Rs.115 crores.

The setting up of the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) was to ensure that work on these projects was not hindered due to paucity of funds. The KRDCL had taken up construction of 153 bridges across the State.

With the excellent engineering manpower available in the State and the investment-friendly atmosphere, the State welcomed international participation in the improvement of its road system.

Mr.Harve Barbaret, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of France, Mr.Jean Paul Peterschmitt, Trade Commissioner of France in Bangalore, Mr.T.S.Sridhar, Secretary, Highways Department, Tamil Nadu, Prof.P.K.Sikdar, Director, Central Road Research Institute, Mr.Ajit Nimbalkar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Maharashtra Road Development Corporation, Mr.Babu Jacob, Secretary, Department of Public Works, Kerala, Mr.K.K.Misra, Principal Secretary, PWD, Karnataka, Mr.G.C.Tallur, Secretary, PWD Karnataka, Prof.C.E.G.Justo and others were present.

According to the organisers, the two-day seminar would discuss the techniques and recent developments in road construction. Road construction and organisation, public-private partnership, innovation in the road sector, and road maintenance management were some of the topics that would be dealt with in the seminar. There would also be a session on "Road Projects and Construction in South India".

According to the organisers, the objective of the seminar was to provide a forum for French and Indian experts to exchange views and ideas in the fields related to the road sector in accordance with the MoU signed last year. There is no registration fee for the seminar, which is being held at the Taj West End Hotel in Bangalore.

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