Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has assured the Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Tuesday that the issues related to the four/six laning of the National Highway (NH) corridors passing through the State would be resolved soon.
During the meeting with the Chief Minister in the Speaker’s Office in the Assembly here, Mr. Gadkari said the Union Government would allocate the funds needed for the development of NH that had been dragging on for several years due to many reasons, including the delay in acquiring the land.
The meeting of Mr. Gadkari assumes significance as the NH development works from the North to the South of the State had been stalled following the prioritisation of the corridors by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The State is expecting a swift action from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on its demand to exclude all corridors from the high priority list II.
The State is also promised its due share in the Sagarmala project of the MoRTH aimed at road connectivity to the major and minor ports in the country.
Fisheries Ministry
Mr. Gadkari, who also holds the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) portfolio, said the formation of the Fisheries Ministry in the second tenure of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister would be beneficial to Kerala.
The meeting, that was also attended by Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan, Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran, lone BJP legislator O. Rajagopal and Chief Secretary Tom Jose, discussed the issues in the fisheries sector, organic farming, transportation sector and ports.
In Assembly
Later, Mr. Gadkari, who is on a private visit to the State capital, and family members saw the proceedings of the Assembly from the VIP gallery. The arrival of the Union Minister to the gallery was greeted with applause by the legislators.
Earlier, accompanied by his wife Kanjan and family memebers, Mr. Gadkari visited the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and the Kairali showroom of the Handicrafts Development Corporation of Kerala near the Secretariat en route to the Assembly.