Staff shortage in the State’s Public Works Department is forcing the government to take help from private hands to fix the value of buildings which will have to be demolished for the widening of National Highway 17 in three districts of Malabar.
Land acquisition for a four-lane NH-17 in Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts is progressing as per the National Highway Act 1956. A Government Order issued by the PWD on May 5 notes that valuation of structures affected by the widening is required to be made urgently and the compensation to the owners has to be disbursed in a phased manner.
However, acute shortage of personnel at the Building Division of State PWD has put the work at risk of delay, with the department “not in a position to undertake the valuation of structures in a time-bound manner” in the three districts, the GO said.
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Hence, permission has been given to the Executive Engineers, PWD, in the three districts to engage registered property valuators.
The urgent nature of acquisition is on in the face of stiff public resistance to the widening of the highway to 45 metres. Local people have constituted action committees and organised agitations.
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Families, particularly on the Vadakara-Azhiyoor-Vengalam stretch in Kozhikode, had recently staged protests in the region. The project envisages strengthening of the existing two-lane carriageway and widening it to four lanes for augmenting the capacity of the highway. Width varies
Currently, the road width between Kannur and Kozhikode varies at different locations from 11 metres to 20 metres in general and 30 metres to 40 metres in short stretches at Edakkad and Vadakara. The NH-17 stretch at Mahe town is only 8 to 10 metres wide.
The development of NH-17 will allow better connectivity to Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. The NH-17 starts in Mangalore, passes through Kasaragod, Kannur, Mahe, Kozhikode, and Kuttippuram and ends at Edappally.