The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has expedited steps for the four-laning of the 169-km National Highway (NH) 66 corridor from Cherthala to Kazhakuttam.
The corridor stretches through Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts with a 45-metre right of way (ROW).
The process for the 3(D) notification under the National Highways Act of 1956 was completed for the Thuravoor-Oachira stretch in Alappuzha district. As much as 98% of the land needed for the Oachira-Kadambuttonam corridor in Kollam district is with the NHAI. The steps for 3(D) notification for the Kadambuttukonam-Kazhakuttam stretch in Thiruvananthapuram district are yet to gather pace.
The 3(D) notification is issued when the entire details of land to be acquired for development such as area, name of landowners and so on are published after completing the survey.
The next stage of land acquisition, 3(G) under the NH Act, would be to award compensation to the landowners.
Five packages
“The 169-km corridor has been split into five packages for easy execution through different contractors to save time. We will be ready with the 3(D) notification for the all the five packages by year end,” a top NHAI official told The Hindu.
The packages are Thurvaoor-Paravoor (38 km), Paravoor to Kottankulangara (38 km), Kottankulangara to Kollam Bypass (32 km), Kollam Bypass to Kadambuttokonam (32 km) and Kadambuttokonam to Kazhakuttam (29 km).
The stretch is part of the 526-km NH 66 stretch from Talapady in Kasaragod to Kazhakuttam in Thiruvananthapuram that is four/six-laned by the NHAI.
The compensation for those surrendering land would be as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
The NHAI, the executing agency, has set December 2020 as the deadline for completing the NH 66 widening, though it will be missed.
State hands over funds
It has been pointed out that funds will not be a problem as Kerala has already given ₹330 crore to the NHAI as the first tranche of the 25% cost of the remaining land to be acquired as demanded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The State’s share is being provided by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) tasked to make available ₹5,200 crore, which is 25% of the cost of the remaining land to be acquired in the State. To avoid delay in taking up the work, the draft Detailed Project Report is being worked out by the consultant for the NHAI. The work would be tendered once the land is acquired and handed over.
