LDF budget evokes a sense of Deja Vu

Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF budget on Friday offered a few infrastructural projects for the capital including some projects which had found a place in the last budget. Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for new underpasses at Pattom and Peroorkada. The same allocation was earmarked for the project which was included in the last budget by the UDF government. The proposal for this project was sent by the district administration and Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Corporation Ltd (TRDCL) a decade ago.

Apart from this, an 11-year old plan of new ring roads also finds its place in the budget. Around '420 crore has been earmarked for the roads, the location of which are not mentioned. The old TRIDA proposals had suggested ring roads to act as a bypass to NH-47, MC Road and State Highway- II.  In the first phase, it has been suggested that a 50-km stretch from Mangalapuram to Kattakada be developed along with the radial link spanning 15 km from Balaramapuram to Vizhinjam.

Vizhinjam Harbour and Thiruvananthap- uram Light Metro projects will get a cut from the Rs 2,536 crores allotted for Major Infrastructure Development Projects. The budget has earmarked money for the development of Mini Civil stations at Sreekariyam and Kadakampally that falls under the constituency of power minister Kadakakampally Surendran. Quite a number of arterial roads in Kazhakoottam constituency will get a facelift if the budget offers come true. An underpass across NH bypass at Pallipuram, close to the 423 acre Tecnocity project site also finds its place in the budget.