THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The five-member high-level committee on NH 17 and NH 47 headed by Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson is yet to meet after it was formed on August 4. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had announced the committee formation after his meeting with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. The Chief Secretary, who has been on a jaunt to Europe, returned on Tuesday. PWD secretary A. P.M. Mohammed Hanish is also on an official tour of Dubai and Turkey.
The committee members include PWD and revenue secretaries as well as two top officials of National Highway Authority of India. The PWD officials have invited tenders for the Detailed Project Report to get the Rs 34, 000- crore allotment for various NH projects.
“Mr Hanish would return only after receiving the International Road Federation’s Global Achiever Award 2015 in Turkey for the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP) in Thiruvananthapuram,” said a department official.
The panel will consider flyovers at areas where religious establishments are reluctant to part with their land. PWD Minister V. K. Ebrahimkunju told DC that the committee’s first sitting would be held soon.
“We have completed all the formalities. The delay is only natural,” he said.
