Much-awaited NH 66 to be reality by Jan, says Public Works Minister Riyas

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The highly-anticipated national highway project, NH 66, will be inaugurated in January. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the completed stretches of the 678-km-long highway, state Public Works Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said on Thursday. The decision was taken during a meeting that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Riyas held with Gadkari earlier in the day. After the meeting, Riyas told reporters that over 450 km of the highway project is already over. At the meeting, it was decided that a number of other projects, including the Palakkad-Kozhikode Greenfield Highway, which would reduce travel time between the two cities to one-and-a-half-hours from the current 3-4 hours, would also be inaugurated in January. NH66 dream project of Keralites: Public works min Asserting that NH 66 was a dream project of Keralites, Riyas said the state had pointed out certain issues related to its development. Construction along more than 450 km of NH 66 has been completed. Of the 16 reaches of the NH in Kerala, the government aims to complete maximum reaches by January. At some places, work is not progressing at the required pace due to the lackadaisical attitude of the contractors. The state wants strict action taken against them. To speed up the project, the number of workers has been increased at certain places, he said. Gadkari has promised that efforts will be taken to complete all reaches by January itself. An urgent meeting of contractors and officials will soon be held in Delhi to speed up construction. Taking into consideration Keralas special interest in NH development, Gadkari has agreed to write off `237 crore in lieu of land acquisition, Riyas said. Decisions regarding completion of the Thiruvananthapuram outer ring road project, the Kollam-Shenkottai Greenfield Highway inauguration, one-time improvement of NH 744 and DPR revision of Edamon-Kollam stretch, among others, were also taken at the meeting. During his Kerala visit in January, Gadkari will assess the progress of the construction along the remaining portions. Pointing out that the NH project had been abandoned in 2014, Riyas said attributed its completion to the stand taken by the state government. There were regional level issues along Kasaragod-Taliparamba, Azhiyooor-Vengalam, Vadakara and Thiruvananthapuram, but those have been addressed. As far as the state government is concerned, the project should be completed in a time-bound manner, Riyas said.