Five more national highways in Kerala

The Union Ministry of Surface Transport approved the development of five more national highways in Kerala. State Public Works Minister P A Mohammed Riyas informed this through a Facebook post. This announcement is very welcome as further improvement of any road will facilitate the existing movement of goods and reduce travel hassles. During the meeting with Union Minister of Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari in Delhi, along with the Chief Minister, Riyas had requested that more roads be upgraded to the standard of national highways. Kerala had also submitted a detailed proposal for the same. Based on that, the steps to prepare the project documents of five new national highways will be initiated.

There was also a long-standing demand from locals to upgrade the Ramanattukara-Kozhikode Airport Road to National Highway status. In addition, the Kannur Airport Road (Chovva-Mattannur), Kodungallur-Angamaly, and Vypin-Matsyafed Tourist Office Road will also be upgraded to National Highway status.

The project document for the Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha bypasses on the Kochi-Madurai National Highway will also be prepared. The Minister's note states that the National Highway Authority has initiated the tender process to select the agency. Improving any roads in Kerala, one of the states with the highest population density and vehicles on the road, is something that gives a new impetus to the development programs in the state.

The above roads are currently not wide enough, resulting in heavy traffic jams at many junctions during rush hours. The most tiresome and convoluted traffic snarls are reported in Kochi. The narrowness of the roads in the outskirts of Kochi is the mainspring for the logjam. Therefore, it is expected that the development of the Kodungallur - Angamaly road will ease traffic congestion in Kochi city and its surrounding areas considerably. It will also help in removing the obstacles faced by goods vehicles coming to the Vallarpadam container terminal.

A project document is being prepared to upgrade the twenty-kilometre-long Kodungallur-Angamaly road, also known as the Western Ernakulam Bypass, to a four-lane highway. The construction of the 643.29-kilometre-long National Highway - 66 from Kasaragod Thalappady to Thiruvananthapuram Karode is progressing rapidly.

Urgent intervention from the authorities is essential to complete the construction of the main national highway and to end the lagging works in the southern division.