Funds from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will be utilised to execute the proposed 1,919.4-km Hill Highway and Coastal Highway from the north to south of the State.
Disclosing this after receiving the feasibility study report for the two highways prepared by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) here on Friday, Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran said it would be included in the works to be funded by the KIIFB for the next financial year.
Rough estimates show that the Hill Highway will incur a cost of ₹5,000 crore and the Coastal Highway ₹7,000 crore.
The two highways were cleared at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on August 28 last. Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said that ₹10,000 crore can be provided for implementation of the project.
The work will begin in all districts where land is available now to avoid delay and cost escalation, Mr. Sudhakaran said. Work on 190 km in nine districts — Kasaragod, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, Idukki, Ernakulam, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram- will be taken up initially.
Free surrender of land is what the government expects from the landowners for making the Hill Highway a reality soon, he added. Hill Highway works had already commenced in Kannur, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts.
“The fisherfolk will not be affected in any way and the displacement will be minimum,” he pointed out.
Mr. Sudhakaran said Natpac had been asked to submit the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the two highways. Natpac director B.G. Sreedevi, who handed over the reports, said the detailed project report will be submitted for the completed stretches to the Public Works Department starting from March to avoid delay.
Modern technology and new materials such as concrete, plastic, rubber and geotextiles will be used for road-laying.
PWD officials had been asked to ensure aesthetics while executing the highway projects, the Minister said.
Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works, Subroto Biswas, Chief Engineer, NH, K. P. Prabhakaran and the Chief Engineer, Roads and Bridges, P. K. Satheesan were present.
