₹8.50 crore allocated for Aroor-Thuravur road upgrades

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has given ₹8.50 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD) to improve traffic diversion roads on the Aroor-Thuravur corridor. This is part of a project to build a 13-km elevated highway, which is expected to open by February 2026. The area has faced traffic jams and accidents since work began in early 2024 to create a six-lane highway. To alleviate these issues, NHAI and local officials held meetings to find solutions. They decided to direct heavy vehicles to use MC Road, which runs parallel to NH 66, and to upgrade other roads for better traffic flow. The PWD will use the new funding to improve more diversion roads. Meanwhile, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has requested ₹30 crore for relocating drinking water pipelines along the highway, a significant increase from the previous estimate of ₹7 crore. As for the highway construction, NHAI has made progress. Currently, over half of the elevated highway work is complete, with plans to increase that percentage to 75% by August. Additionally, work is ongoing to build drainage systems along the corridor. In related developments, six-laning work is complete for 8 km of the 38-km Thuravur-Paravur NH corridor, and the Alappuzha Bypass widening is 80% finished, aided by dredged sand from the Vembanad backwaters. This section is also expected to be done by March 2026.