Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially declared open the much-awaited Kollam bypass on National Highway-66. The 13-km-long, two-lane bypass, with a project cost of Rs 352 crore, will cut travel time between Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram districts of Kerala and is expected to decongest traffic in Kollam town. The bypass has three major bridges over the Ashtamudi Lake, with total length of 1,540 metres. Modi said only 56 per cent of the rural habitat was connected with roads in the country when he came to power in 2014. The prime minister said foreign tourist arrivals went up in the country from 70 lakh in 2013 to one crore in 2017, adding that foreign exchange went up from $18 billion to $27 billion.