Centre Clears NH 544 Angamaly–Aroor Bypass Project: Benny Behanan.

The Centre has approved the proposed Angamaly–Aroor bypass project along National Highway 544, and a fresh notification for land acquisition is expected to be issued shortly, Congress MP Benny Behanan said recently.

In a Facebook post, Behanan said the project—initially conceived as the Angamaly–Kundannoor bypass—has now been realigned to run from Angamaly to Aroor, covering a distance of around 50 km.

He said the proposed corridor will be developed as a 70-metre-wide highway, with an eight-lane configuration planned in the first phase and provisions for expansion up to 10 lanes in the future.

“The Centre has granted approval for the project and a notification for land acquisition will be issued shortly,” he said.

Behanan also alleged that the project had stalled earlier due to delays in land acquisition proceedings during the previous LDF government’s tenure, which, according to him, rendered the earlier traffic survey outdated. He added that a fresh traffic survey has since been completed to support the re-notification process.

He said the original six-lane proposal was based on a traffic assessment conducted five years ago, while the updated study now recommends a wider corridor suitable for an eight-lane highway with scope for further expansion to ten lanes.

Describing the bypass as crucial to easing severe traffic congestion in the state, Behanan said he had repeatedly taken up the issue with the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and senior officials of the ministry, as well as raised it in Parliament.

“It is on that basis that the Centre’s approval has now become a reality,” he said.