THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The construction of the state’s first concrete road from Mukkola near Vizhinjam to Karode near Kerala-Tamil Nadu border is expected to pick up pace soon as the state geology and mining department has given its nod to the National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) to carry out work during the night.
The concrete road is being built as part of the second phase development of the NH 66. TNIE on Monday had reported that the work of the stretch had hit a roadblock after the mining department issued a stop memo to the NHAI to halt work after 5pm. This had slowed down the work on 1.2kms of the total 16.3 stretch, at Kottukal and Thirupuram.
According to NHAI officials, the director of the mining department has given permission to begin the work this week. And if all goes well, the stretch will meet the deadline and be commissioned in March itself. Decks have also been cleared to procure 40,000 cubic mere quartz sand from English India Clays Limited (EICL) at Veli which will end the red earth shortage that has affected the project.
P Pradeep, project director, NHAI said all hurdles have been cleared and the project will be completed soon. “We expect to complete the work within the month now that we have received approval to carry out work during the night “ Pradeep said.
Though the EICL has given its approval to procure sand for the project, the NHAI may face stiff opposition from employees of the firm while transporting sand from the site as the EICL workers are under strike. However, the Mining department, which gave the approval to procure the sand, is of the view that it can be transported with police protection The EICL and L & T,the contractor of the Mukkola- Karode NH development, had earlier entered an agreement to procure the sand. The NHAI had initially planned to complete the work of the stretch on May 31, 2021. However, the deadline was revised several times due to the pandemic and unavailability of red earth.