The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will speed up the process to commence land acquisition for the 40-km Kundannur-Angamaly greenfield NH that was mooted in 2016, with congested highways in Kochi being seen as a choking point for vehicles.
The access-controlled stretch having a design speed of 100 kmph is expected to decongest the ever-busy Aroor-Edappally NH 66 Bypass, the Edappally-Angamaly NH 544 corridor, and the underdeveloped Seaport-Airport Road. Of this, the two largely four-lane NH stretches are used daily by over 1 lakh passenger car units (PCUs).
The decision to fast-track the process of acquisition of approximately 219 hectares of land needed for the 45-metre-wide corridor, so that the land acquisition committee (LAC) can approve it and a 3(a) notification can be issued, is being seen in the light of the review meeting of south Indian States, held here a week ago and chaired by NHAI Chairperson Alka Upadhaya. The agency also views the two congested and largely urban NH corridors where bottlenecked junctions abound as an impediment to the smooth and fast transit of cargo between ports, it is learnt.
