Kerala state is thickly populated with more than sixty
percent of the state’s population living in urbanized and semi-urbanised areas.
Rapid increase in the vehicle population with in sufficient and low-quality
roads have rendered the state with the highest accident rate in the country.
Around 5000 fatal accidents and ten times of that being the number of non-fatal
accidents place the state in a most precarious scenario. If we prudently compute
the cost of these accidents such as loss to the families of the victims and the
society at large, it will be to the tune of several thousand crores per year. To
arrest this dangerous situation from getting out of hand, the political
leadership of the state, both UDF and LDF who rule the state alternatively at
five year intervals, has to act decisively. There are several areas in which
the state can do wonders through good governance and dynamic policy decisions.
Efficient and affordable public transport system is the best guarantee to
reduce the vehicle population on the roads at daytime peak hours. Greater
Mumbai with 2 crores(approx) population is the best example in this regard. Seventy
five lakhs people travel in MEMU services in Mumbai and forty five lakhs people
travel in public transport buses there. Precisely this is the reason why Mumbai
roads are available for those who use other modes of transports for their daily
needs. The only option for Kerala is to
drastically introduce MEMU services exponentially in all the electrified
railway lines in the state. Comparing the benefits which can be derived from
this system the cost will be much less and affordable.
