The State has sought ₹1,000 crore from the Centre for the crisis-ridden Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and a reduction in the excise duty for diesel.
The government has also sought financial assistance from the Centre for making arrangements at the six inter-State checkposts identified for the entry of Keralites held up in other States since the lockdown.
The demands were flagged by Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran during a videoconference on Tuesday with Union Minister for Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
₹1,000 crore sought
The KSRTC sought ₹1,000 crore for purchasing 450 new buses instead of the buses being phased out, improving the facilities in depots for the post-lockdown period.
Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran could not flag the immediate needs of the highways in the State as he had to leave for a pre-scheduled meeting. Later, the Minister forwarded the issues of concern to Mr. Gadkari in a letter.
The Minister urged Mr. Gadkari to give direction to commence construction works for the four/six-laning of NH 66 in Kasaragod and Kannur districts where land acquisition had almost been completed. Sufficient fund had been sought for overlaying immediately after completing the defect liability period.
The Minister told the Union Minister to entrust the badly damaged stretches of the NH66, NH744, NH85 and NH966 corridors in the State, included in the Bharatmala Pariyojana, to the NHAI or sanction works to the PWD to keep it traffic-ready.
Mr. Sudhakaran urged the Minister to intervene and sanction the four-laning of the Alappuzha and Kollam bypasses on NH 66 as standalone projects. The Minister also appealed to Mr. Gadkari to take a call on fixing the maintenance of the roads in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode bypasses.