Long land acquisition process hurdle in road development: Khan

Long process of land acquisitions is one of the major hurdles in making roads seamless and in curbing road mishaps, Rajasthan Transport Minister Yunus Khan said today.
Land acquisition takes longer time which hamper development of road and decisions in this regard should be made by government irrespective of political affiliation, Khan said delivering his address on a road safety conference here.
"It is a long process. When the land is acquired, detailed project report is prepared and financial sanctions are given, but, in cases, by then the government changes.
Land acquisition is in the interest of the society and decisions should also be made by governments across the party lines in the interest of the society," he said.

Due to the delay in road acquisition, development of roads and highways gets affected.
The minister said creating awareness is the major factor in curbing road accidents.

"Road safety should be a part of curriculum at school and college level. Those who get killed in road accidents are mostly in the 18-25 age group. Awareness for traffic rules, traffic sense must be there because every life is precious," he said.
Khan, who heads the empowered group of state transport ministers, said issues like training of drivers before issuing them licence and inclusion of road safety in educational curriculum will be taken up in the next meeting of the group.

K K Kapila, Chairman of International Road Federation (IRF) said that 1.5 million people lost their lives in road accidents in the country which is a very serious issue.
He also laid stress on spreading awareness among the masses and to train them to follow road safety rules.
IRF, a Geneva-based body working for road safety, in collaboration with a local organisation Muskan Foundation organised the conference which was attended by road and transport professionals, engineers and experts.
Additional Chief Secretary, PWD, D B Gupta, DGP Manoj Bhatt and others were present on the occasion.