• Kochi:Steps taken to expedite National Highway widening: Pinarayi Vijayan

    Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that the state government has taken steps to expedite the widening of the national highway between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram into four lanes. Inaugurating the Palarivattom flyover on Wednesday, Vijayan said that efforts are on to sort out the issues related to land acquisition for widening of national highways.
    The chief minister said that respective district collectors have been given instructions to hold discussions with landowners to resolve the land acquisition crisis. The government will be preparing a better compensation and rehabilitation package for the land owners to minimise their hardships.
    He said that the government stands for environment-friendly construction that is suitable for the state’s climate and geography. The government plans to start a system which make use of factors like recycling of waste materials during construction and environment-friendly raw materials. Various methods like optimum of utilization of power will be introduced to check cost escalation, he said.
    PWD minister G Sudhakaran said that the detailed project reports for the flyovers at Vyttila and Kundanoor would be prepared soon and construction works would begin once the central government gave approval to National Highways Authority of India to undertake the work. Once these two flyovers are completed, there would be four flyovers along the stretch between Kundanoor and Edappally to address traffic snarls, he said.
    The minister said that all roads, constructed or repaired in future, will have well-covered drains. Pavements for pedestrians and cycle tracks would also be part of the new plan, he said. The government has decided to construct two highways – high range and coastal – between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 crore.
    Mayor Soumini Jain requested the government to take urgent steps to complete the work on Pullepady-Thammanam Road. She also wanted the state government to revise the PWD manual so as to facilitate smooth completion of road works. The chief minister also took a ride on the newly-commissioned flyover. Guy Lapointe Authentic Jersey

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