The rehabilitation package for Kerala’s 623-km-long Coastal Road project is the best among coastal corridors in India, Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas said here on Thursday.
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The compensation for land and buildings too is the highest in the country. Families that are rehabilitated will be allotted a 600-sq.ft. flat or ₹13 lakh as one-time compensation, he said after inaugurating Iqbal Road at Edavanakkad, which was renovated as a BMBC corridor using flood rehabilitation funds of ₹2.40 crore.
The Coastal Road passes through 52 stretches spread over nine districts. Of this, 537 km are being built by the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) that comes under the the Public Works department (PWD). Financial sanction has been granted for 24 stretches spread over 415 km. Tourism and comfort stations will be readied every 50 km. Tender sanction has been given for the long-overdue Munambam-Azheekode bridge (in the corridor). All this will provide an impetus to beach tourism, Mr. Riyas, who also inaugurated works on road projects undertaken as part of the NABARD scheme in Pallipuram and Edavanakkad grama panchayats, said.
On the development of national highways in the State, he said the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargaod NH 66 would be developed as a six-lane stretch in 2025. K.N. Unnikrishnan, Vypeen MLA, presided.