Work on four-lane highway being laid between Kaliyakkavilai and Kanniyakumari, Nagercoil and Kaavalkinaru by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has gained momentum.
The NHAI proposed to lay four-lane roads since these roads were being used by thousands of vehicles going to Thiruvananthapuram and the tourist destination of Kanniyakumari. Though acquisition of land for a new road project is quite a difficult affair in Kanniyakumari district, blessed with cultivable wetlands everywhere, the exercise was completed by giving adequate compensation to land owners.
The work has been taken up in two phases – laying the four-lane road for about 27.25 km from Kaliyakkavilai to Villukkuri at a cost of ₹ 509 crore and from Villukuri to Kanniyakumari and Nagercoil to Kaavalkinaru at a cost of ₹ 559 crore.
As a major bridge over the Tamirabharani has to be built at Athancode near Kuzhithurai, work on installing 42 giant concrete pillars has been completed. Three rail over-bridges have been built at Theroor, Palliyaadi and Thovaalai and work on constructing the mega vehicular overpass near APTA Market has been completed.
“Construction of 36 pipe culverts has been completed and construction of 35 more similar structures, along these two roads, is on. After completing 33 box culverts, work on 35 more box culverts has reached the final stage. The new stretches will have 13 vehicular underpasses and nine pedestrian underpasses,” said P. Pradeep, Manager (technical), NHAI.
Having completed the work on laying concrete road for about 14 km from Kaavalkinaru to Regional Transport Office at Thovaalai and for about 6 km from Kanniyakumari to Vazhukkampaarai, these stretches are ready for vehicular traffic now. Work has been expedited to complete the remaining stretches by ensuring round-the-clock work.
“If discharge of water from Petchipaarai dam in the Tamirbharani is stepped up during monsoon and water stagnates on the proposed project stretch, it is likely to hit progress of the work. Anticipating all these problems, we’ve expedited the work. Since we’ve identified the areas where landslide may hamper the work, we’ve employed advanced technologies to prevent it,” said Muthudaiyar, Project Director, NHAI.