Vijayan unveils construction of Wayanad twin tunnel road

The chief minister, along with minister of PWD PA Mohammed Riyas, finance minister KN Balagopal, SC/ST welfare minister OR Kelu, MLAs and local public representatives, attended the inauguration function

Kochi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday inaugurated the commencement of construction on the 8.73 km-long twin tunnel road connecting Anakkampoyil in Kozhikode district with Meppadi in Wayanad, a project aimed at easing connectivity in the hilly Wayanad district.

Vijayan unveils construction of Wayanad twin tunnel road

The chief minister, along with minister of PWD PA Mohammed Riyas, finance minister KN Balagopal, SC/ST welfare minister OR Kelu, MLAs and local public representatives, attended the inauguration function on the grounds of the St Mary’s School in Anakkampoyil.

The twin tunnel road project is estimated to cost ₹2134 crore and is expected to be finished in four years. Once realised, it will be the longest tunnel road in Kerala and the third-longest in India. Out of the 8.73-km-long road, 8.11 km will be in the form of a tunnel running beneath fragile hills and forests of the Western Ghats. The twin-tube tunnel road has been envisaged to provide an alternate route of connectivity to Wayanad alongside the Thamarassery Ghat road, which witnesses frequent traffic bottlenecks and minor landslips during the monsoon.

“When the tunnel project becomes a reality, people from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts will be able to travel faster not just to Wayanad, but to adjoining Karnataka as well.

The tunnel road will be four-lane and received environmental approval in June. The project will no doubt energise the tourism, business and commerce sectors in north Kerala. This is a dream project for Wayanad,” the CM said.

“The tunnel road to Wayanad was one of the 900 promises made by the LDF in 2021. It will soon become a reality. This project reflects the government’s will to work uncompromisingly to overcome challenges and implement the development of the state,” he said.

PWD minister Mohammed Riyas, who also holds the tourism portfolio, said the tunnel road project will boost the footfall of both domestic and foreign tourists in districts like Wayanad and Kozhikode.

“We all know how we have spent hours on the Thamarassery ghat road stuck in traffic. An alternate road connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad has been the need of the hour for years. A faster tunnel road will not just aid these two districts, but the tourist and commerce potential of the entire state,” he said.

According to officials in-charge of the project, the total alignment of the tunnel road will involve six curves, two main bridges and three minor bridges. The tunnels will be equipped with advanced telecommunication, ventilation, fire-fighting, and lighting facilities.

The project has not been devoid of controversies. A section of environmentalists has opposed the project claiming that drilling a tunnel through a highly fragile section of the Western Ghats would destabilise slopes, trigger landslides, interfere with the movement of wild elephants in the area and disturb tribal settlements.

Project documents have shown that the mouth of the tunnel on the Wayanad side is just 800 metres away from Puthumala, the site of a major landslide in 2019 which killed 17 persons.

The minutes of a meeting of the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), before giving nod to the project, had recorded last year: “Areas near the proposed tunnel road are classified as high or moderate landslide hazard zones….the stability analysis shows that chances of failure exist in the project areas. The overburden slide or flow down at the surface of overburden and underlying rock is a possibility.”

In March this year, the SEAC approved the tunnel project, albeit with several conditions. In June, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests granted conditional nod to the project.