Cutting the Gordian Knot of Building Highways in India

The biggest challenge faced by the government in building world class network of highways in India is the land acquisition. Along with the outmoded laws, there area myriad of obstacles to be faced by at the state level in acquiring the land.

One way to solve the problem is perhaps to look at who is the biggest land owner in the country ? It is the Railways and they have access to the heart of the cities, to the states, to the rural areas. Railways needs the funds. Perhaps the  National Highway Authority of India can reach an agreement with the Railways for the air rights over the rail tracks and build a highway on top of that. The Highway Authority and the Railways can then both share the revenue. After all the government keeps talking about Public- Private partnership- why not a Public- Public partnership ? Its a win- win situation.

It is not as crazy as it sounds. There are bridges in the United States which have double decks with trains running on one level and cars on the others.

Similarly the  Hong Kong infrastructure visionary Gordon Wu of Hopewell Holdings Ltd, had a plan to do the same in Bangkok, but which got bogged down in politics. When you drive out of the Bangkok airport and look at the rail road track which runs parallel to the highway, you will see a series of pillars which were meant to support the abandoned highway.

With today's technology , nothing is impossible. All it requires is the will to make it happen and a little imagination !!!