The four/six-laning of the National Highway 66 (NH-66) from Kasaragod in the north to Karode on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in the south will be expedited with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Tuesday issuing orders for acquiring the remaining land with the State providing 25% of the cost.
An order to this effect from MoRTH came after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took up the delay with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, when he called on him in New Delhi to discuss the issue.
The intervention of Mr. Gadkari came when the Chief Minister pointed out that the order had not been issued months after the State expressing readiness to share 25% of the cost of the remaining land. Later, Mr. Vijayan told a press conference that the Union Minister pulled up the officials in front of him and directed them to issue the order on Tuesday itself.
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Agreement on Oct. 9
“We have been informed that MoRTH has issued the order agreeing for cost-sharing of the land acquisition. An agreement will be signed on October 9,” a PWD official said.
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The State will have to give ₹5,250 crore to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which implements the work.
The Chief Minister said the Union Minister agreed to the State’s request for ₹175 crore for repairs on the NH corridors and for the completion of the Palakkad- Thrissur-Wadakanchery- Kuthiran corridor. The NHAI had also been asked to prepare a detailed project report for road connectivity for 11 ports in the State under the Sagarmala project, Mr. Vijayan said.
Capital airport
The Chief Minister, who also called on Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep S. Puri, said he had been informed that the Union Cabinet was yet to take a call on the privatisation of the Thiruvananthapuram airport. There is no change in the State stance on privatisation.
The demand for more domestic and international flights and Haj embarkation point at Kannur were also taken up.