August 18, 2020: Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran said the delay in land acquisition has hit the mega projects of coastal highway and hill highway. The work of 12 reaches in the hill highway is yet to take off due to the denial of permission from the Forest department while the fishermen refused to part their land for road development.“The forest department did not give permission for construction even after the cabinet approved the alignment,” said the minister.
He hinted at changing the alignment of hill highway to avoid the locations where permissions were denied. Out of the 40 reaches in the project seven reaches did not have the 12-metre width required. The work of 21 reaches has started at Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kannur and Kasaragod. According to the minister, more discussions needed to be done to convince the fishermen to give their land for highway development.
The 650-kilometre coastal road is being developed at an approximate cost of Rs.6,500 crore. Both the projects would cost Rs.10,000 crore.
Source: The New Indian Express
