Wayanad: After decades of wait, hope has emerged at the end of a tunnel for the people of Wayanad as the state government has cleared almost all the bottlenecks for the construction of a tunnel road as an alternative to the Ghat Road of National Highway 766.
Preparations are in place to launch the construction of the 8.17 km Kozhikode-Wayanad Tunnel Road project. The construction of the twin tunnels estimated at Rs 2,149 crore is expected to start in January, 2024.
For travellers between Wayanad and the planes of Kozhikode, the Ghat section of the road, the only option, was a often a horrow show. Earlier it was the narrowness of the roads that worried travellers, now it is heavy traffic causing hours of jams along the 9 km-stretch of NH 766.
The project will connect the districts through a parallel tunnel road connecting Marippuzha in Tiruvambadi, Kozhikode with Kalladi in Meppadi,Wayanad. The funding of the project is to be done under KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board). In addition, Rs 108 crore has been already sanctioned for the construction of an approach road from Tiruvambadi to Marippuzha (17.5 km), the work of which has been allotted to the Uralungal Labour Contract Society.
Land acquisition to be over in a month
According to Linto Joseph MLA, who represents Thiruvambadi legislative constituency, within one month the land acquisition process would be completed. “The land acquisition process is at the last lap and final notices were issued to all the land owners and one month's time has been given for them to register objections,” said Linto Joseph.
“The price of the 12 hectares of private land has been fixed with mutual concurrence and funds are also ready to be disbursed.
“Considering the expertise of the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) in making tunnels, the company has been selected as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the project.
“We were a bit skeptical about the environmental clearance from the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change, but we received it in July itself,” the MLA said.
CPM leader George M Thomas, former MLA of Thiruvambadi, had opened the initial discussions on the possibility of a tunnel road. When George floated the idea, only a few considered it as a serious option to resolve the traffic blues of Wayanad. Rather than flowers it was brickbats he had faced, as the Greens came out heavily against the idea of carving out a tunnel across the Western Ghats.
Since Chief Minister Pinarayi Viajyan unveiled the blueprint for the project on October 6, 2020, the project has had a smooth progress. Being enlisted among the 30 prime projects of the LDF government, Pinarayi directly monitors the progress every three months, which also ensured speedy clearing of the bottlenecks.
According to Arun Ghosh, PRO, KRCL, the corporation is all set to invite tenders for the project. “We were informed by the CM’s office that we can begin the construction works by early January,” Ghosh said. “The work will be completed in five years.”
The Chief Minister’s Office also roped in the expertise of a Norwegian team led by Dr Dominic Lang, director of Natural hazards at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute for the project. The team visited Marippuzha to examine the site and also expressed their willingness to associate in the project. A Norwegian agency will evaluate the project implementation of KRCL. It did a primary examination of the site.
A panacea for the traffic snarls on NH 766
A dream project which would ensure multi-faceted development for Wayanad district where tourism has become the lifeline after the price crash of cash-crops, the project was envisaged in 2018 as a solution for the endless traffic snarls in the ghat section of National Highway 766.
The ghat road is the easiest link for people of Wayanad to access rail, airports and for super specialty hospitals. However, a small accident or a mechanical failure in a vehicle, would be enough to cause hours of traffic jam on the road. There were days when vehicles were stopped even at Chundel in Wayanad and Adivaram in Kozhikode, whenever the vehicular movement came to a standstill for hours. There is a joke in Wayanad that if you reach Kozhikode in time during holidays, you are the luckiest and you can try your luck by buying a lottery.
The tunnel road would go parallel to the existing ghat road, which is narrow at several points due to limited scope for expansion as it creeps through a sensitive topography of the Western Ghats region. The survey for the tunnel started in September 2020.
It was Metroman E Sreedharan who suggested the KRCL as consultant of the project considering their expertise in making tunnels. The DPR of the project was prepared by the KRCL. Though the environmental activists sounded alarm bells at the beginning, as the project runs from a private land and ends in a private land, there is no room for much concern, it was pointed out. Moreover, the revenue department has already handed over land for afforestation to the forest department instead of the forest land being taken over for the project.
Better tourism prospects, improved connectivity
Tourism industry is pinning its hopes on the tunnel road expecting a jump in the flow of tourists to Wayanad to enjoy the ride itself. Moreover the road passes through a scenic terrain of the Western Ghats.
“The tunnel road would save the tourism industry of Wayanad in a big way as there are many tourists who skip the district due to the traffic snarls in the ghats to access the airport and rail at Kozhikode,” said CP Sailesh, secretary, Wayanad Tourism Organization.
