NHAI to Start Working on Making Kerala Ports Easily Accessible

1. NHAI to Start Working on Making Kerala Ports Easily Accessible Kerala, “God’s Own Country”, is home to 17 major, intermediate and minor ports of India. Sprawling over a coastline of 590 km, Kerala has India’s largest commercial port- Kochi, and also houses some of the safest ports in the country. The Vizhinjam Port, or the Port of Trivandrum, is a major port that is under construction. However, the connectivity to most of these ports via national highways has been feeble. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) has proposed an aspiring project, stating that the ports are to receive better accessibility by being connected to the state’s National Highways. Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Program of the Government, MORTH has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take up the project. With this, the ports will be connected to their nearest corresponding highways. Some of the ports to be included in the rejuvenation are Vizhinjam, Thangaserry, Alappuzha, Kochi, Munambam, Ponnani, Beypore and Azheekkal. The project will be covering 192 km, at an estimated cost of Rs 3,782 crores. NHAI will commence the project as soon as MORTH finalizes all the details related to it. PWD Principal Secretary, Mr G Kamalavardhana Rao said the NHAI will be preparing a Detailed Project Report for the project, including the road connectivity and the widening of the entire stretch, where the average width has been fixed at 12 m. The coastal and the national highways are supposed to upgrade the not just the connectivity, but the overall development of the ports, and thus, the state as well. The coastal highway has been aligned corresponding to the important ports of Kerala, while still being accessible to the National Highways. With the completion of the project, there will be better connectivity for goods transfer and other operations. #KeralaPorts #NHAI #MORTH #CoastalHighways