Kochi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the construction of an 8.73 km long twin tunnel road on Sunday, which combines Anacampoyil in Kozhikode district with Mappadi in Wanad, which is a project aimed at reducing connectivity in the hill Vanad district.
The Chief Minister attended the inauguration ceremony on the basis of St. Mary’s School at Anacampoyil, along with Minister of PWD Pa Mohammad Rias, Finance Minister KNA Balagopal, SC/ST Welfare Minister or Kelu, MLA and local public representatives.
The cost of the twin tunnel road project is estimated It is expected to end in 2134 crores and four years. Once realized, it will be the longest tunnel road in Kerala and the third longest in India. Of the 8.73-km long road, 8.11 km will be in the form of a tunnel running under the delicate hills and forests of the western ghats. The Twin-Tube tunnel road has been conceived to provide an alternative route of connectivity to Wayanad along the Thamraseri Ghat Road, which is a witness to frequent traffic bottlenecks and minor landslides during the monsoon.
“When the tunnel project becomes a reality, the people of Kozhikode and Malappuram districts will be able to travel fast not only of Wayanad but also around Karnataka.
The tunnel road will be four-lane and environmental approval will be received in June. There will be no doubt in this project that tourism, business and commerce areas will be activated in North Kerala. This is a dream project for Wayanad, “CM said.
He said, “Tunnel Road for Wayanad was one of the 900 promises made by LDF in 2021. It would soon become a reality. The project shows the will power of the government to reflect the challenges to remove challenges and to work unconventional to implement the development of the state,” he said.
PWD Minister Mohammad Rias, who also holds tourism portfolio, said that the tunnel road project will promote the legs of both domestic and foreign tourists in districts like Wayanad and Kozhikode.
“We all know how we have spent hours on the Thamarasari Ghat Road stuck in traffic. An alternative road connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad has been required for years. A sharp tunnel road will not help these two districts only, but the entire state tourist and commerce capacity,” he said.
According to the project officials, the total alignment of the tunnel road will include six decreases, two main bridges and three minor bridges. The tunnels will be equipped with advanced telecommunications, ventilation, fire fighting and lighting facilities.
The project has not been devoid of controversies. A part of the environmentalists opposed the project, claiming that drilling a tunnel through a highly delicate section of the Western Ghats will destabilize the slopes, trigger landslides, intervene in the movement of wild elephants in the area and harass tribal settlements.
The project documents have shown that the tunnel towards Wayanad is just 800 meters from Putumala, a major landslide site in 2019 in which 17 persons were killed.
The minute of a meeting of the State Level Expert Valuation Committee (SEAC) was recorded last year, before giving the project node: “The proposed tunnel areas have been classified as high or moderate landslide danger areas … Stability analysis shows that project areas have a possibility of failure.
In March this year, SEAC approved the tunnel project, with several conditions. In June, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests gave the project a conditional node.
