THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The standoff between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the state Department of Mining and Geology has affected the development work of Mukkola-Karode NH-66 bypass. The Geology Department had denied permission to NHAI for undertaking construction work during the night.
Though the NHAI had written a letter to District Collector Navjot Khosa seeking permission recently, it is yet to get a reply from the collector, said an NHAI official. The deadline for the commissioning of the stretch is March 2022.
“We are trying to finish the work and commission the stretch in March itself. But the geology department denied permission to carry out construction work during the night. Last week, an official from the department stopped the work at 5pm. When we sought an extension, the geologist said the department would seize the vehicles used for construction and report the same to the local police,” said P Pradeep, project director, NHAI.
“Of the 16.3-km project, the construction work of 1.2km at two areas -- Kottukal and Thirupuram -- remains to be completed. For that, we need red earth. But the geology department is also not giving permission to get it,” he said. A meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary was held on Friday to discuss the issue. However, nothing turned positive. The work on the NH 66 bypass which is part of Tamil Nadu has also been stopped midway due to the unavailability of soil or red earth. Meanwhile, an official of Geology Department alleged that NHAI was trying to sell the red earth to private parties. “We have objected the work as the NHAI tried to sell red earth to private parties. The work during the night was objected due to this issue,” he said.
The original deadline for the completion of the first concrete road in the state was May 31 last year. The deadline had to be changed several times due to the pandemic. Once the 16.3 km road is opened, commuters can travel to Tamil Nadu via Kanyakumari without touching Thiruvananthapuram city thereby saving time.