Kollam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially declared open the much-awaited Kollam bypass on National Highway-66 on Tuesday. The 13-km-long, two-lane bypass, with a project cost of Rs 352 crore, will cut the travel time between Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram districts of Kerala and is expected to decongest the traffic in Kollam town.

The bypass has three major bridges over the Ashtamudi Lake, with a total length of 1,540 metres. Dedicating the bypass to the nation, Modi said only 56 per cent of the rural habitat was connected with roads in the country when he came to power in 2014.
"On the banks of the Ashtamudi Lake, I sense the recovery from the (August 2018) floods. But we will have to fight harder. I congratulate you all on the completion of the bypass," he said.