By IANS,
Kozhikode (Kerala) : Kerala needs a high-speed road corridor from Kasargod in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south, said state Public Works Minister Mons Joseph Friday while addressing a discussion on the need for an expressway in the state.
The proposal for a high-speed highway connecting state’s both ends was a subject of an intense row during the last United Democratic Front (UDF) government.
“The government has studied the report for a 520-km highway, prepared during the last government. But we have to form a consensus on the project,” the minister said.
He said the state is lagging behind many others in road development. “The main reasons are the unavailability of land and the population density. The delay in land acquisition is also creating hurdle in road projects,” he added.
The Rs.1.5 billion-city development project in capital Thiruvananthapuram got bogged down as land could not be acquired on time.
“Punj Lloyd company, which was entrusted with the project stopped the work midway because of the delay in acquisition. Now, the government has completed 85 percent of the land acquisition and the company has agreed to restart the work. The project will be completed in 18 months,” the minister said.