Kochi, June 5 -- The Kerala government apprised Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari of the need to urgently reconstruct the collapsed section of the NH 66 at Kooriyad and complete the six-lane expansion of the project in a time-bound manner, the state public works minister PA Muhammad Riyas said Wednesday.

Riyas accompanied chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other top officials at a meeting in Delhi with Gadkari on Wednesday in the backdrop of complaints of cracks and fissures in several reaches of the NH 66 and the fallout of the collapse of a section at Kooriyad. Vijayan and Gadkari previously met in December last year to evaluate the ongoing road and highway projects in Kerala.

At a press conference at Kerala...