Mollem highway expansion plan: Study picks holes in govt's claim on mishaps

THE GOAN NETWORK | JANUARY 17, 2021, 12:28 AM IST

PANAJI

Science writers Rohan Menezes and Lisann Dias have picked holes in the government's claim that road accidents had spurred the planned expansion of the highway being opposed as it cuts through protected forests in Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Dias and Menezes analysed news reports of road accidents for an eight-year period between 2011-19 along the current 2-lane NH748 (formerly NH4A) for the stretch at the Anmod-Mollem Ghat. The results rebuke Goa's Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral's claim that rise in accidents justifies the expansion project.

The duo analysed 23 reports to ascertain how many accidents occurred in the 13-km protected area stretch of the highway and whether the narrowness was a factor.

"As many as 17 of the 22 accidents for which locations could be determined, 17 (~77.3%) did not take place within the protected area," according to the duo's report published in the December 2020 issue of the scientific journal Zoo’s Print. 

Dias and Menezes based the analysis for their report on 30 articles from LexisNexis: 23 related to specific accidents and seven to the general issue of accidents on this stretch and the proposed expansion project. 

They also used the same parameters as that used for the traffic police report for accidents along the Anmod-Mollem Ghat stretch of the NH4 between 2011 and 2019.

It fact-checks the government’s claim that the planned NH4A (now NH748) expansion project is necessary to prevent accidents — particularly along the section that passes through Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park (BMWLS and MNP). 

"The only noticeable pattern is the steady decline of accidents since 2016, when there was a peak of 38. In total there were 216 accidents in this time frame, resulting in 84 deaths," the report notes. 

Furthermore, of the 11 accidents for which the causes could be determined, 10 (~91%) were caused by driver error — primarily speeding, it said, adding that only one — wherein a truck fell into the Anmod Ghat ravine while trying to let another vehicle pass — might have hypothetically been solved by a road expansion.

Since most occurred outside the protected area and caused by driver error rather than road narrowness, Dias and Menezes conclude in their report that expansion of the 13km-stretch in the protected area was unlikely to prevent the vast majority of accidents in their sample. 

The duo also claim expansion could in fact worsen problems and cited a Rutgers University study showing wider roads increase speeding and drivers reduce cautionary behaviour. 

The report recommends that for the lack of evidence the NH4A expansion project be put on hold at least until conclusive research proves its efficacy.

Menezes is a student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, USA and Dias is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Policy and based in Mumbai. 


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