The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will execute the upgrade of 192.8 km of coastal roads in Kerala under Bharatmala Pariyojana. It seeks to improve the connectivity to eight of the 17 intermediate and minor ports in the State with an outlay of ₹3,782.56 crore. Bharatmala Pariyojana is a Centrally funded road and highways project.
The Centre was approached as the State got only three port connectivity roads initially under the umbrella programme for highway sector compared to the 26 given to Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (12) and eight to Tamil Nadu.
With MoRTH agreeing to include the upgrade of 192.8 km of roads, the exchequer can save over ₹2,500 crore as these roads identified figure in the 656.5-km coastal highway that will pass through nine districts.
The State will now have to bear only the cost of acquiring the land, a top Public Works Department official told The Hindu . The Right of Way (ROW), on an average of six to eight metres, is to go up to 12 m after the upgrade.
It starts from Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram and ends at Kunjathoor, near Thalapady in Kasaragod. The government has given sanction to the project with funds from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
For improving the connectivity to the Vizhinjam port, 15.7 km of road on two stretches, from Poovar to Chovara and Chovara to Kovalam Junction, has been identified. As many as 148 buildings will be affected. In the case of Thankassery, upgrade of 22.3 km from the Mayyyanadu beach to the port and from Thankassery to Neendakara will be taken up and 526 buildings will be hit.
For Alappuzha, 655 buildings on the 26.2-km stretch from Payikulangara to Bypass and the SH-Alappuzha Bypass intersection to the Mararikulam beach will be hit.
The 13.3 km from Saudiya to Fort Kochi and Vypeen to Matsyafed Tourist Office will be upgraded and 108 buildings will be affected.
As many as 183 buildings will be hit for the upgrade of the 29.3-km stretch from Matsyafed Tourist Office to Munambam and from Munambam to the Kara beach. In Ponnani, the 38.1 km from MES College Junction to Padinjrekkara and to Ottumpuram will be widened and 207 buildings will be hit.
In the 21.5-km upgrade of the road from the Mudhiyam beach to the Madhura bazaar and to Chullikad for ensuring connectivity to the Beypore port, 206 buildings will be affected. As many as 323 buildings will be hit in the widening of 26.4 km from Payyambalam to Azhikkal and to Puthuvalappu while making road connectivity hassle-free to the Azhikkal port.
