Gadkari Set To Inaugurate Over 450 Km Completed Stretches Of Kerala's NH 66 In January

Kerala’s long-anticipated National Highway 66 (NH 66) is expected to be inaugurated in January.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the completed stretches of the 678-km-long highway, State's Public Works Minister PA Mohamed Riyas announced on Thursday (9 October), The New Indian Express reported.

The decision followed a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Riyas, and Gadkari.

Riyas said that over 450 km of the highway project is already over.

The meeting also greenlit the January inauguration of other projects, including the Palakkad-Kozhikode Greenfield Highway, which will cut travel time between the two cities from 3-4 hours to 1.5 hours.

Riyas described NH 66 as a “dream project” of Keralites and highlighted the state’s concerns over contractor delays.

"Construction along more than 450 km of NH 66 has been completed. Of the 16 reaches of the NH in Kerala, the government aims to complete maximum reaches by January. At some places, work is not progressing at the required pace due to the lackadaisical attitude of the contractors. The state wants strict action taken against them. To speed up the project, the number of workers has been increased at certain places,” he said.

Gadkari has assured that efforts will be made to finish all remaining stretches on schedule and will hold an urgent meeting of contractors and officials in Delhi to accelerate progress.

He also agreed to write off Rs 237 crore in lieu of land acquisition.

Additional decisions during the meeting included the completion of the Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road, Kollam-Shenkottai Greenfield Highway inauguration, NH 744 improvements, and DPR revision of the Edamon-Kollam stretch.

Gadkari will visit Kerala in January to review the progress of remaining works.

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