Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has taken a stern stand against the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Central Government for stalling the National Highways project in the state, referring to the incident as an attempt to “cut the wings of development in the state”.
Following the NHAI’s announcement that the NH development project in Kerala has been stalled for the time being, a Malayalam news channel on Sunday released a letter sent by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president, PS Sreedharan Pillai to Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, dated September 14, 2018 requesting to stay land acquisition proceedings for NH 66.
Reacting to this, Pinarayi Vijayan, in a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday stated that Sreedharan Pillai did not even inform the state government about this nor did he publicly announce this anywhere. “Instead, he secretly sent this letter to try and disrupt the highway development project,” said the Kerala CM.
“The people of Kerala have the sense to identify those who are trying to destroy the progress and development of the state. The people of the state will stand together to resist such forces,” stated Pinarayi Vijayan.
The NHAI has prioritised the development of National highways into two categories - Priority I (High priority projects which will be taken up immediately) and Priority II. According to reports, the development of the NH and SH corridors in the state was included in Priority II list. Priority II list will have to wait for another two years to begin.
This means that the widening of the NH in Kerala will have to wait till 2021, which is also the year that the current term of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) will come to an end.
The Kerala CM stated that the highway development projects of those states ruled by a BJP Government have been included in the High Priority I list of the NHAI, whereas, those projects of the states ruled by non-BJP states have been included in Priority II list. “These are actions that the country has not heard of before. This is against the federal system of governance that is mentioned in the Constitution.”
Voicing out his concern, the Kerala CM said that delaying the project for another two years would mean that the cost of land will increase by 2021. “Even in the past, the Centre had voiced out their disinterest in providing funds because of the high cost of land. Truth be told, this action is a way of cutting down the wings of a long cherished dream,” said the CM.
Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out at the Central Government by stating that they are not focussed on the general development of the country but they will only focus on development in areas of their interest. “They also try to cut down on the powers of the state and ensure development in these states as per their interests.”
The inclusion of the NH projects of Kerala in the Priority II list comes at a time when the Kerala Government had acquired almost 90 per cent of land in the districts of Kasaragod, Kannur and Kozhikode, almost 60 per cent of land in Malappuram, Thrissur and Ernakulam and 40 per cent of land in Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.