Resume DPR preparation for elevated highway on Edappally–Aroor NH bypass: Hibi Eden tells NHAI

Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden met National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav and sought his intervention for the immediate resumption of work to ready a detailed project report (DPR) for an elevated highway that the NHAI had mulled on the 16-km Edappally–Vyttila–Aroor NH 66 bypass.

The NHAI ought to ready the alignment, design, cost and implementation strategy on a priority basis, so that the four-lane corridor does not remain a bottleneck when the rest of NH 66 is widened to six-lane. An elevated highway in the corridor is in the larger public interest of not just Kochi but the entire State, he said in a letter addressed to the NHAI Chairman.

The letter and the meeting assume significance since the NHAI has prioritised the proposed 50-km Kochi Outer Ring Road (ORR) over the elevated highway. “The ORR cannot replace the Edappally–Vyttila–Aroor NH 66 bypass that carries substantial traffic originating from, destined for, or connecting Kochi city. The two projects can, therefore, serve complementary rather than substitutive functions,” the letter said.

Published - November 05, 2026 07:00 am IST