Alathur: Tharoor panchayat, which was once part of the Kuzhalmannam Assembly constituency, later became the heart of the newly formed Tharoor Assembly segment. Both constituencies have been consistently represented by CPM legislators. The party still holds significant sway in the region. Despite that political advantage, the critical Kazhani Chunkam–Pazhambalakkadu Road within Tharoor panchayat remains in ruins.

In 2016, ₹32 crore was allocated from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for the road’s development. Last fiscal, an additional ₹9 crore was sanctioned from the MLA fund. But the ground reality paints a dismal picture as the road continues to deteriorate.

Protest committee activists allege that the road has not been properly surfaced even once since its original construction nearly 25 years ago. Over the years, the response to worsening conditions has been limited to temporary pothole patchwork, just enough to keep it barely motorable.

The most recent setback arose from delays in restoring the road after pipeline works under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Poor coordination between the Kerala Water Authority and the Public Works Department (PWD) stalled progress. Although the pipeline work was completed months ago, the process of handing back even the initial stretch of road to the PWD began only recently. A joint inspection of these sections finally got underway just yesterday.

The PWD can only begin tender proceedings for road restoration after it formally regains control of the Vavullyapuram–Tharoor stretch. Meanwhile, pipeline work is still pending along a  two kilometre stretch from Tharoor panchayat to Pazhambalakkadu Thottumpalla. It could take several more months before this section is completed and handed over.

Unless elected representatives step in to facilitate better coordination between the departments, further delays in restoration are inevitable.

So far, only a 1-kilometre stretch of the road from Kazhani Chunkam to Puzhakkal Palli has been completed. Work has not yet started on the remaining 8-kilometre stretch within the Tharoor panchayat. Moreover, the road in this region is critically narrow. A local road development committee was formed earlier to address the issue, but beyond laying some gravel, no real progress was made. That gravel too washed away in the rains.

Authorities now claim that a tender will be floated as soon as the stretches between Vavullyapuram, Puzhakkal Palli and Tharoor panchayat are officially returned after Jal Jeevan Mission work.