Corridors under Bharatmala Pariyojana to be completed by 2023

Road development in the State will get a big boost with the inclusion of 1,078 km of national highways and State highways for upgrade in the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Bharatmala Pariyojana network of 42,000 km of economic corridors, inter-corridors, and feeder routes.

Of the over 1,078 km being developed through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 687 km is on the north-south corridor and 391 km on the west-east corridor.

The four/ six-laning of the 687-km National Highway 66 stretch from Thalapady on the Kerala-Karnataka border to Karode on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border and development of all bypasses on the NH and SH stretches, including the ones at Kollam, Alappuzha, Kazhakuttam-Karode where works are going on, are part of the programme.

Development of another 391 km of NHs and SHs spread over seven corridors in the State has also been made part of project aimed at strategic reset of highway development initiatives and to improve the efficiency of freight movement.

The 40-km NH 85 stretch from Theni to Munnar of the Tuticorn- Kochi Economic Corridor and the 54-km NH 544 stretch from Walayar to Wadakkanchery and the 64-km NH 544 corridor from Thrissur to Edappally of the North-South National Corridor is on the upgrade list.

From the inter-corridor, the 14-km stretch of NH 966 from Palakkad to Mundur and the 51 km from Pallikuth to Kozhikode, and the 120-km NH 85 corridor from Munnar to Kochi have been included.

The project is for five years and the corridors are scheduled for completion by 2023.

The inclusion of the corridors under the Bharatmala Pariyojana will result in the speedy development of these stretches as the sanction from MoRTH and NHAI headquarters will be swifter, Regional Officer, NHAI, Kerala, Lt. Col. Ashish Dwivedi told The Hindu.

User fee is to be collected from those using the developed corridors and plazas will come up 60 km apart or less as per the National Highway Act depending on the availability of land.

Sticking to the time schedules to complete the corridors will lead to cost savings for exchequer and less discomfort to road users who will be affected during the work to be taken on the Hybrid Annuity Mode, the official said.

Welcoming the decision, Principal Secretary, Public Works, G. Kamalavardhana Rao said people should cooperate with the survey works as the MoRTH was pumping in ₹26,000 crore for road works.