KERALA: PINARAYI’S HIGHWAY DRIVE
The CM is determined to improve the state’s roads by easing land acquisition
Connectivity is his new buzzword. Just a year into his term, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is consciously and deliberately moving in ways he hopes will pre-empt the build-up of any significant anti-incumbency sentiment against the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
Nava Keralam (New Kerala), Pinarayi’s new coinage, is focused on infrastructure development of the state through vastly improved road, rail and air connectivity. Pitched carefully, to appeal to the aspirations of both poor and more affluent people, this may be the first time a Left Front government in Kerala is trying to walk the fraught line between politics and development.
The state government is according top priority to widening arterial roads such as the Kasargod-Thiruvananthapuram highway (NH-66), which had become a nightmare to negotiate, given its dismal condition, made worse by regular traffic congestion and increasing frequency of mishaps.
Up until now, the high population density had made land acquisition to widen highways problematic. Pinarayi says he aims to change that. “Without roads, the state cannot progress,” the CM said, while unveiling plans to ensure “60-metre-wide national highways and 12-metre-wide state highways, including hill and
LINKING POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT, THE CM SAID, “WE CAN’T PROGRESS WITHOUT ROADS”