Wayanad: With the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) granting environmental clearance for the Kozhikode-Wayanad twin tunnel road project on Tuesday, all procedural bottlenecks are now over. The project is expected to significantly ease travel for Wayanad residents to other parts of the state.

The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), Konkan Railway Corporation, and the Public Works Department (PWD) had earlier signed a tripartite agreement to execute the ₹2,134 crore project. The 8.17 km twin-tunnel road, seen as a solution to the travel woes on the congested Thamarassery Ghat stretch of NH 766, will begin at Anakkampoyil in Kozhikode and end at Kalladi near Meppadi in Wayanad.

According to Thiruvambady MLA Linto Joseph, construction will begin soon. He said the MoEF&CC expert panel, which met on May 14 and 15, recommended clearance with strict conditions. The tender for the construction was won by the Hyderabad-based infrastructure development company Dileep Buildcon Limited. "Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would inaugurate the project in July", he added.

Land acquisition procedures for the project have also been completed. A total of 11.16 hectares in Kozhikode and 8.32 hectares in Wayanad have been handed over to the PWD. An amount of ₹3.8 crore has been transferred to the state’s CAMPA account, with compensatory private land also acquired.

A decade-long campaign
Former Thiruvambady MLA George M Thomas, who began campaigning for the tunnel in 2017 despite opposition from environmentalists, expressed satisfaction. “My dream will soon materialise,” he said, recalling how the idea was once dismissed as ‘utopian’. The second LDF government listed it as a priority project, with the CM regularly reviewing progress.

Konkan Railway’s first project in Kerala
Konkan Railway Corporation PRO Arun Ghosh told Onmanorama that though there were many projects discussed earlier, this is the first project to be started by the corporation in the state. "We are all set to start the construction works", he said.

The tunnel survey began in September 2020, and the project gained momentum after CM Vijayan unveiled the blueprint on October 6, 2020. It was listed among the LDF government’s 30 priority projects. An additional ₹108 crore has been sanctioned for a 17.5 km approach road from Thiruvambady to Marippuzha, to be built by the Uralungal Labour Contract Society.