The proposed development of road infrastructure connecting the Kannur International Airport near Mattannur here got a fresh impetus with the government deciding to accelerate the steps for finalising the alignments for beginning land acquisition.
The government earlier planned to complete the preparation of alignment proposals for developing six roads to the airport into four-lane highways in a few months after the inauguration of the airport on December 9 last year. The roads being developed are Thalassery-Koduvally-Anjarakkandy-Mattannur Road, Kuttyadi-Peringathur-Panur-Mattannur Road, Mananthavady-Boys Town-Peravur-Shivapuram-Mattannur Raod , Koottupuzha Bridge-Iritty-Mattannur-Vayanthode Road, Taliparamba-Nanichery Bridge-Mayyil-Chalode Road, and Mele Chovva-Chalode-Wayanthode-Airport Road.
An official press release on Thursday said a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvanathapuram to discuss the proposed development of the six roads decided to speed up the finalisation of alignment proposals.
Discussions planned
District Collector T.V. Subhash has been entrusted to convene local-level discussions involving Ministers and people’s representatives. Consultants iDeck has been entrusted with the task of preparing the detailed project reports of three of the six roads.
Two of these roads will be developed by the NH Division while the other by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.
Land documents
Of the three roads, the alignment proposal of the Thalassery-Koduvally-Anjarakkandy-Mattannur road has been finalised and related land documents have been handed over to the Revenue Department.
The administrative sanction for acquisition has already been granted.
The consultants have collected data for preparing the DPR of the Kuttyadi-Peringathur-Panur-Mattannur road. As the Mananthavady-Boys Town-Peravur-Shivapuram-Mattannur road passes through the Kottiyur Wildlife Sanctuary, a joint inspection by the consultants of the Public Works Department and the Forest Department has been conducted.
Traffic studies
Traffic studies and alignment surveys have also been conducted for preparing the DPR of the these roads. In the forest area, the road being developed will be two-lane.
The work of the Koottupuzha Bridge-Iritty-Mattannur-Vayanthode road, which is the proposed NH, is in progress under the World Bank-aided Kerala State Transport Project.
The work is expected to be completed by October 30.
The NH Division has completed the data collection required for preparing the DPR of the Mele Chovva-Chalode-Wayanthode-Airport road, while the estimate of the proposal for developing the Taliparamba-Nanichery Bridge-Mayyil-Chalode road has been submitted to KIIFB.
