Thiruvananthapuram: The state is set to get more road development projects with the Centre agreeing to consider proposals for the renovation of the MC Road and the traditional Sabarimala route from Pandalam to Pamba under the PM Gati Shakti scheme.Public works minister P K Basheer said the Centre was ready to sanction more road development projects for the state following his meeting with Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari. The proposal to upgrade the Pandalam-Pamba Thiruvabharana patha, used in connection with the Sabarimala pilgrimage, and the MC Road will be included under the PM Gati Shakti scheme, Basheer said.Centre will also expedite land acquisition for the Kodungallur-Angamaly bypass while the alignment of the Kothamangalam bypass has been approved, the minister said. Five works worth Rs 111.27 crore, included in the annual plan, will also be sanctioned, he said.Gadkari assured Basheer that approval from the alignment approval committee (AAC) for the alignment of the NH 966 elevated highway between Ramanattukara and Kozhikode airport would be secured soon. Centre has also taken a favourable view of constructing a flyover at Kayamkulam as part of the NH 66 development, Basheer said.The latest meeting followed an earlier discussion between Basheer and Gadkari in July, which resulted in central approval for national highway development projects worth Rs 2,039 crore in the state.The projects approved then included Rs 1,663 crore for four-laning the Kadavoor-Anjalimoodu stretch of the Kollam-Theni National Highway, Rs 172 crore for the Ramanattukara-Chandranagar stretch of NH 966, Rs 98.40 crore for works on NH 744, Rs 66 crore for the Kazhakkoottam-Balaramapuram stretch of the old NH 66, and around Rs 49 crore for the Bairakuppa bridge across the Kabini river in Wayanad.Centre assured the state that its support for Keralam’s road infrastructure development would continue, Basheer said.
