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Safety is guiding factor in Karnataka-World Bank highway project

Karnataka roads have scored big on accident, surpassing China and Brazil. According to the latest global survey on road condition, there has been a 55% increase in the number of fatalities since 2000.

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Karnataka roads have scored big on accident, surpassing China and Brazil. According to the latest global survey on road condition, there has been a 55% increase in the number of fatalities since 2000.

The study says the accident rate stands at 140% per 1,00,000 vehicles in 2009. This is attributed to the lack of effective road safety management and enforcement system which gained top priority at the latest Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP) II.

On Monday, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Government of India and World Bank on developing core road network through implementation of the project. World Bank also sanctioned a whopping $350 million for this.

“The World Bank and even the government’s intend is to bring five components in the core road network building process of which road safety management is one. Studies have been conducted on two roads — Ramangaram-Mysore Road and another one in Belgaum — to find out road safety issues. We will also build a centre of excellence for road safety management in due course under this project,” said MK Shankarlinge Gowda, prinicipal secretary of transport department.

The Global Road Safety Facility is helping state public works department  to carry out safety audits on these two corridors and identify engineering and measures required to improve safety on KSHIP II roads.

The KSHIP II will upgrade 1,231 km of two-lane highways focusing on five components — to facilitate better movement of people and goods, support GoK diversify financing base by leveraging this loan to attract private sector funds through public-private partnership (PPP) mode and through co-financing with domestic banks, improve road safety design, management and enforcement to reduce roads fatalities.

This project will be implemented through two categories of contracts — conventional item rate contract will cover 269 km at Rs525 crore and through annuity contracts covering 562 km at Rs1,500 crore. The contracts are expected to commence by the end of this year.

In addition to these, construction of 400 km of road is taken up on PPP model through Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited. The project duration is five years from commencement and will acquire land for constructing 831 km according to the World Bank norms.

World Bank’s operation advisor for India Hubert Nove-Josserand also suggested the central and state governments to look for innovative financing through these projects where the world donator has signed in loan money, as India becomes the biggest borrower from the World Bank for its development projects.

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