KANNUR: The Central Government will give Rs 450 crore for the reconstruction of roads battered in the flood that hit the state, said Union Minister for Roads Nitin Gadkari.
While jointly inaugurating the foundation stone-laying of the Thalasserry -Mahe four-lane bypass, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Gadkari said though the state had asked for Rs 603 crore from the Central road fund, it is difficult for the government to sanction that much.
The Central Government will also give its nod to the proposed Rs 3,000 crore project in connection with the national highway development from Thalappadi to Chengala, Gadkari said. The government is doing this by bypassing the dissent note of the department secretary, he said. Though there are different parties in power at the state and the Centre, politics will never be a deciding factor when it comes to development, said Gadkari. The development is for the people of the country, he said.
The Centre will cooperate with the development projects of the state. The land acquisition is the most difficult thing for a road development project. But the LDF Government under Pinarayi Vijayan has made considerable progress in that area, said Gadkari. The Union minister and Pinarayi also jointly inaugurated the work of Nileshwaram ROB and two-lane expansion from Naattukal to Thanavu at Palakkad through video conference. Union Minister Gadkari promised Central aid to the proposed national inland waterway project from Thiruvananthapuram to Bekal, said Pinarayi.