The Kerala government is not willing to develop five National Highways (NH) in the state that are included in the National Highway Development Project (NHDP) Phase IVA and imposing toll on them. The State has informed the same to the Union government.
The StateÂ’s response has come in reply to a letter from the Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, seeking the willingness of the government to develop NH 85 Bodimettu-Kundannoor, NH 744 Kollam-Kazhathuruthy, NH 766 Kozhikode-Muthanga, NH 966 Kozhikode-Palakkad, and NH 183 Kollam-Theni under the NHDP. In a letter to Union Minister of Transport and Highways CP Joshi on March 27, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy instead requested sufficient funds to develop these highways by the Public Works Department.
Chandy said that wide protests could be expected while imposing toll on these roads, as only minimal development had been proposed. The people of Kerala are generally hostile to toll collection, he said in the letter.
The Chief Minister said that many stretches of these NHs had two-lane carriageway and paved shoulders. What the State needed was the development of some of the stretches into four-lane ones where it was warranted and of the remaining stretches into two-lane ones with paved shoulders and proper sewerage facilities.
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