Sixteen years on, PWD road in Palakkad still awaits complete tarring
PWD road tarring in Alanalloor remains incomplete 16 years after the Public Works Department took over.
PWD road tarring in Alanalloor remains incomplete 16 years after the Public Works Department took over.
PWD road tarring in Alanalloor remains incomplete 16 years after the Public Works Department took over.
Alanalloor: Even after 16 years since the Public Works Department (PWD) has taken over the Irattavari–Karadiyodu–Kunthippadam Road, the tarring work remains incomplete.
A three-kilometre stretch in the middle of the six-kilometre road from Irattavari to Kunthippadam still lies unpaved. When the PWD took over the road in August 2009, local residents had hoped it would finally put an end to their long-standing travel hardships. Residents now say that although the road work was said to have been included in the budget so many times over, no progress has been made on the ground.
This road falls in a zone that witnessed a landslide during the heavy rains in 2018. The area also includes the Melekkalam Adivasi Nagar, which suffered heavily that year due to the lack of proper connectivity.
The road serves as the only access route for nearly 100 families in the region, including tribal households, and is a vital link for people from Edathanattukara and Ambalappara heading towards Mannarkad. Though locals submitted a petition to the minister, no effective action has been taken so far.
With the road becoming increasingly unnavigable, residents of Thottappayi and Karadiyodu are the worst affected. Locals now demand that the road be handed back to the panchayat if the PWD has no plans to make it motorable.