THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Putting an end to uncertainties, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) finally opened the elevated highway at Kazhakkootam to the public on Saturday. The authorities opened the elevated highway starting from Attinkuzhy near Technopark Phase-III to the CSI Mission Hospital at Kazhakkootam around 11.15 am. NHAI officials and the contractor of RDS Limited were present for the opening of the longest four-lane elevated highway in the traditional way of smashing a coconut on the median at Attinkuzhy side.
Though the construction of the 2.72km-highway was completed earlier, it was not opened as the authorities were waiting to conduct a formal inauguration. However, the motorists were allowed to enter the elevated highway without an inaugural ceremony on Saturday, giving them much-needed relief at the busy Kazhakkootam.
The NHAI decided to allow traffic movement on the highway without an inauguration taking people’s convenience into account. The official ceremony is now scheduled to be held on December 15. It will also give the NHAI time to finish the tarring works of the service roads beneath the flyover. “Since the safety audit was completed earlier, we decided to open the road to the public. In the meantime, we can also complete the work beneath the flyover so that the official inauguration will be done after completing the entire work,” said NHAI project coordinator P Pradeep.
Union Minister of Road, Transport, and Highways Nitin Gadkari will arrive in the state for the inauguration. He will also lay the foundation stone for the other NH 66 under construction from Kazhakkootam to Kasaragod in the state.
The highway was first scheduled to open on November 1. However, it missed multiple deadlines thereafter. According to the NHAI, the dates were changed due to the unavailability of the union minister.
The NHAI again postponed the date from December 2 as the Centre informed that the minister was preoccupied with the Gujarat assembly elections. As per the new plan, the function will be held at Greenfield International Stadium in Kariyavattom.