THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-touted six-laning work of 29-km NH-66 stretch from Kazhakootam to Kadampattukonam, on the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram border, will be delayed due to legal hurdles in acquiring land for constructing a bypass at Attingal and the inordinate delay in receiving the estimate from KSEB for shifting its utilities. As a result, the tender for selecting the contractor for the project could be floated only after two months. Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had planned to start the widening of the road from April after floating tenders in February this year. But nothing has happened.
According to P Pradeep, project director, NHAI, the authorities of Thiruvarattukavu Devi temple at Attingal had approached the court and secured a stay order against acquiring 0.04 hectares of land that include the temple premises for the bypass work. “Of the total 70 hectares of land required for the road development, only 0.04 hectares need to be acquired as per 3(D) notification due to legal issues. We are trying our best to vacate the stay order. The court has asked the deputy collector (land acquisition) to look into the issue and he asked a report from NHAI. We have already submitted the report. However, it is still under the consideration of the government. The deputy collector, who was assigned for clearing out the hurdles on land acquisition, will retire from service on Monday,” he said.
Pradeep also pointed out the delay in receiving the cost estimate from KSEB for shifting its utilities, including electric posts, transformers and cables. “We have received the estimate from other stakeholders such as Kerala Water Authority and BSNL and only the estimate from KSEB is pending. We can float the tenders soon after receiving it, which may take another two months,” he added.The tender for the remaining stretches -- 38-km Thuravoor-Paravoor stretch, 38-km Paravoor-Kottankulangara stretch, 32-km Kottankulangara-Kollam bypass stretch and 32-km Kollam bypass stretch and 32-km Kollam bypass-Kadampattukonam stretch -- have been completed and the works will begin soon.
The Kazhakoottam-Kadampattukonam stretch will be developed as per standards of the Indian Road Congress and will be constructed on Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) model. Once this road is widened, the stretch from the Kollam border to Thiruvananthapuram city will be free of traffic congestion. The stretch has been aligned in such a way that it does not enter Attingal town, which is a major traffic bottleneck in the northern part of Thiruvananthapuram.
As per the agreement with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the 526-km National Highway stretch from Thalappady to Kazhakoottam will be widened to 45 metres. However, it will be divided into 13 stretches, including the 29-km Kazhakoottam-Kadampattukonam stretch. The other stretches coming in the state for the development are 39-km Thalappady-Chengala stretch, 37-km Chengala-Neeleshwaram RoB, 40-km Perole-Taliparamba stretch, 36-km Taliparamba-Muzhappilangadu stretch, 39-km Azhiyur-Vengalam stretch, 53-km Ramanattukara-Kuttippuram stretch, 24-km Kuttippuram-Kappirikkad stretch and 89-km Kappirikkad-Edappally stretch.
Elevated highway work comes to a standstill
Meanwhe ongoing construction of the 2.1-km elevated highway has come to a standstill after a majority of the workers tested Covid positive. An NHAI officer said only some minor works are going on and the work will be in full swing after the labourers complete their quarantine period. The deadline for the completion of the project is October this year. However, the second wave of the pandemic has hit the project badly.
NHAI trying to vacate order
Of the total 70 hectares of land required for road work, only 0.04 hectares need to be acquired as per 3(D) notification due to legal issues. the NHAI is trying its best to vacate the stay order.