The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has, in principle, agreed to a ₹400-crore project to connect Beypore port to Malaparamba Junction on the national highway in the city.
The project involves the construction of a four-lane carriageway including a 2.9-km flyover from Beypore port to Malaparamba. “The length of the proposed road would be 18.4 km, exclusively catering to the development of the city and linking the major port in Kozhikode to the north eastern part of the city,” M.K. Raghavan, MP, said here on Tuesday.
He said the proposed road would be connected to National Highway 766 that links Kozhikode and Mysuru in Karnataka. “The exclusive project will change the cityscape and give an impetus to the economical, industrial and tourism activity in Kozhikode,” he said.
Mr. Raghavan said a high-level committee of Central government officials had vetted the project since its submission to Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Water Resources Nitin Gadkari in July 2017. Subsequently, the project was considered under the Bharatmala Pariyojana-Sagarmala programme aimed at the enhancement of port connectivity via road and rail.
The Ministry officials discussed the multi-crore proposal with their counterparts in Kerala and finally an approval was given. The next stage would be the preparation of a detailed project report. If required, the State government would proceed with the acquisition of land for the project, he added.
Mr. Raghavan said Beypore, the second biggest port in the State, had been facing neglect for some time. The project was conceived to link the port to the city centre, following the expansion of the Beypore wharf.