State govt to appoint geotechnical experts to study NH 66 construction issues

Thiruvananthapuram: State govt has decided to appoint geotechnical experts to examine issues related to construction of national highways across state and recommend appropriate remedial measures.

Public works minister P K Basheer said the decision was taken in response to recent technical issues reported at various stretches of NH 66 and concerns raised by public.The decision was made at a high-level meeting held with officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. During the meeting, NHAI informed the minister that eight geotechnical agencies have already been appointed to study technical issues along different stretches of NH 66.The minister said investigations will be led by technical experts G V Rao of IIT Delhi and T K Subhash of IIT Palakkad, who will oversee studies being conducted by agencies and suggest appropriate engineering solutions.Meeting reviewed progress of NH 66 construction and noted that 519km, or 81%, of the project’s total 642-km length in the state has been completed. The minister directed officials to complete remaining works within a year.

Basheer also said state govt would soon hold discussions with Union minister for road transport and highways to seek approval for additional NH projects in Kerala.To expedite decisions on pending land acquisition cases related to highway projects, the minister said full-time special teams would be constituted under supervision of district collectors in every district.The meeting was attended by NHAI regional officer colonel A K Janbaz, public works department secretary Adeela Abdullah, additional secretary V R Vinod, district collectors, NHAI project directors, chief engineer and other senior officials.