Smooth ride for highway development

KANNUR: As the debate goes on in the State on the width required for the proposed four-laning of the National Highway (NH), the development of the existing stretch of the NH in the northern region into a four-lane highway with a stipulated width of 45 metres will hardly pose any problem, including large-scale displacement of people, as land is already available for upgrading most part of the stretch from Thalapady on the Kerala-Karnataka border in Kasaragod and Poozhikkara near Mahe.

The 160-km reach from Thalapady to Mahe covering the districts of Kasaragod and Kannur has been included in the NH Development Programme (NHDP) for four-laning and the alignment has been approved by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) which has relaxed its norm of 60 metre width and permitted the State to acquire land for 45 metre width considering the density of population. The land acquisition has been completed from Thalapady to Kasaragod (about 32 km) and four-laning has already been done in the Kasaragod town portion.