Thiruvananthapuram: The Union Budget announcement that a whopping Rs 65,000 crore has been allocated for the development of National Highway stretches in Kerala had stunned many as rarely has such a large amount ever been alloted for a particular sector at one go and that too in a small state. The elation in this regard was probably premature because the devil, as they say, lies in the details.
The large figure includes the amount already sanctioned for the Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram stretch of the National Highway-66, which is currently being renovated. The Centre had earlier sanctioned Rs 44,000 crore for this project.
Apart from this, the budget announcement also includes the development of roads connecting Kochi-Munnar-Theni, Kollam-Shenkottai, Thiruvananthapuram-Kottarakkara-Kottayam-Angamaly, Kozhikode-Palakkad, Kozhikode-Wayanad-Mysore roads and also converting the National Highway (544) from Walayar to Edappally into six lanes.
An amount of Rs 22,000 crore has been set aside for the acquisition of land for the development of National Highway-66. The Centre had said that 25 per cent of this amount should be borne by the state government and Kerala had accepted the demand. It had also disbursed Rs 900 crore in three phases.
Even the budget proposal on the development of the other sections of National Highways passing through Kerala refers in fact to projects that were announced several times earlier. However, no preliminary survey has been done or alignment has been decided in connection with these projects.
The state government will initiate action in this regard after receiving the official notification of the central government on the announcements regarding the National Highway development made in the budget, G Sudhakaran, the Minister for Public Works, said.
The state has also not delayed providing the amount demanded by the central government for land acquisition for the development of National Highway-66, he said.
