Kerala hill highway project to start soon

Thiruvananthapuram: The land acquisition for the hill highway project in Kerala will begin within a month, according to the Minister for Public Works Mr Mons Joseph.

The financial institutions such as IL&FS, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) and IDBI have expressed willingness to invest in the project.

The Government plans to hold discussions with the elected representatives and others concerned after getting the survey report on the project by National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), he said.

The Minister said that special priority would be given to Idukki and Wayanad districts while finalising the alignment for the project.

The Minister for Cooperation and Devaswom, Mr G. Sudhakaran, told the House that a banking ombudsman would be appointed in the cooperative sector to look into the incongruities in interest rates levied by the cooperative banks.

The Cooperative Act would be amended; nearly 150 amendments were under consideration, he said.

The department has decided to open 4,000 Onam bazaars this year. The cooperative banks had disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 1,813.56 crore in 2007-08.

Mr Sudhakaran said that it had been proposed to distribute prasadam through the counters of Dhanalakshmi Bank during the next Sabarimala season.

The Travancore Devaswom Board had invited tenders for setting up a prasadam complex at an outlay of Rs 10 crore, he added.