Manjeri: In an inspiring display of community spirit, a local mosque committee has paved the way for public welfare by demolishing a portion of its building to widen the critical access road leading to the Government Medical College Hospital's emergency department. Setting aside commercial interests, the Masjid Rahman committee voluntarily parted with a portion of prime, high-value real estate for the civic project.

The section ceded for the road expansion previously served as a women’s prayer hall. The road development project had originally commenced using land owned by the Health Department, but the corridor remained bottlenecked by adjacent private properties and the mosque complex.

With the demolition of the mosque’s tin-roofed annex, a strip measuring approximately 10 meters in length and one meter in width has been freed up for the carriageway. The committee agreed to the concession following fruitful discussions led by MLA M Rahmathulla and Municipal Chairperson Vallanchira Abdul Majeed.

The road renovation, undertaken at an estimated cost of ₹1 crore, is being financed through the local asset development fund of former MLA U A Latheef. The stretch had long been notorious for severe bottlenecks that frequently trapped emergency vehicles, including ambulances carrying patients in critical condition. Authorities expect traffic flow to the casualty wing to ease significantly once construction is completed and unauthorised street parking is curtailed. Meanwhile, local residents have pointed out that the drainage culvert adjoining the Malappuram Road intersection remains too narrow and requires widening as well.

The site inspection and handover were attended by Standing Committee Chairpersons K P Ummer and Zakir Vallanchira; Council Members Hussain Pullenchery, Nishanth Arukizhaya, Mujeeb Muttippalam, K P Mohammed Iqbal, and Fawaz Kurikkal; Planning Committee Vice-Chairman Hussain Mecheri; and mosque committee office-bearers Thurakkal Kunjan, Hussain Thorappa, Sadiq Thaniyan, Lay Secretary P Mujeeb, K K B Mohammedali, and Salim Mannissery.