An order that virtually stalled all highway development works in Kerala had been revoked, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday, amidst allegations from the chief minister of the southern state that the move was "politically motivated".
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had claimed that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), as part of its policy guidelines issued on April 15, had categorised highway projects into "high priority-1" and "high priority-2", placing the state in the second category.
The CPI(M) leader had also said the NHAI had issued directions to all its regional offices to suspend the land acquisition process of all projects under the "priority-2" category.
"The notification has been cancelled. There is no discrimination against Kerala. The problem in Kerala is that the cost of land acquisition is very high and there are houses on the roadside. So road widening is an issue and this is Kerala's biggest problem.
"The Kerala chief minister and I sat together and decided that whatever the cost for the development of the state, we would have to do it. This priority 1 and priority 2 is wrong news. All the Bharatmala projects are underway and detailed project reports will be made. There will be no injustice towards Kerala. Clarification for the same will be issued on Friday," Gadkari said.
He added that Union Tourism Minister Alphons Kannanthanam, who hailed from the southern state, had explained the situation to him and he had also spoken to the NHAI chairman on the issue.
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The NHAI had earlier asked the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala to stop the land acquisition process for the expansion of National Highway 66. Following the order, the work had to be stopped all over the state except in Kasaragod.
Only the Thalapady-Chengala and the Chengala-Neeleswaram stretches in Kasaragod district come under the "priority-1" category.
The political row over the stalling of projects has been going on for some time. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had accused Kerala BJP chief Sreedharan Pillai of trying to derail the projects. State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had written a Facebook post blaming Pillai for the same.
Following this, Kannanthanam had sent a letter to Gadkari and Vijayan too spoke to the Union highways minister over the phone. State minister G Sudhakaran had also written a letter to Gadkari.
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