Kerala - Kochi   

Coastal highway: notification in a week

KOCHI: The land acquisition process for the proposed 26-km coastal highway linking Puthuvypeen and Malliyankara can be completed within six months if the government issues a notification in this regard, District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish has said.

The government is all set to issue the notification under the Survey and Borders Act within a week. “Once the notification is issued, the survey of the land for the project will start immediately. The acquisition can be completed in six months under the fast track process,” the Collector said. He ruled out the possibility of any major roadblock in the implementation of the project, especially in land acquisition. “There is a great deal of support to the project from all sections of society.”

His confidence arises from the fact that the highway is conceived in a straight alignment disturbing minimum possible places of worship, water bodies and paddy fields, while affecting least number of existing structures.

Besides, various public and private agencies like the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, Petronet, Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra), Kerala Builders Forum, Union Bank of India expressed their willingness to support the project.

The highway, with an estimated cost of Rs.219.85 crore, is proposed to start from Kalamukku junction in Vypeen moves through the Special Economic Zone area and reaches Munambam through Malliyankara bridge.

The Goshree Island Development Authority (GIDA) has entrusted FACT Engineering & Design Organisation to draw up a detailed project report on the project.

The State government has already taken a decision to freeze all land transactions in the 26-km-stretch from Puthuvypeen to Malliyankara falling within the alignment of the proposed coastal highway.

According to the Collector, the progress of the project had been astounding. The government decision to freeze land transactions came just a day after the Collector gave a presentation on the project to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at a meeting held last Friday to discuss the funding pattern of the project.

The Collector said that without the coastal highway, which provided an easy way out to National Highway 17, the NH 47 would literally come to a standstill, especially when the various upcoming mega projects in Kochi became operational.

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