The construction of the Anakkampoyil-Meppadi tunnel road, one of the Kerala government’s most prestigious projects, was inaugurated by Chief Minsiter Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday. It is the longest tunnel road project of the state, that will connect Kozhikode and Wayanad, and has been in discussion for the last few years.
The 6.8-kilometre-long tunnel road is expected to finish within three years. The tunnel will be able to bypass the famous Thamarassery Ghat pass that connects Kozhikode and Wayanad. This road has traffic problems and faces landslide issues in monsoon, which hopefully will be fixed when the tunnel is built.
"Thamarassery passes through the forest region. So further development in the road has got limitations. The idea of the tunnel road developed after many discussions. There were allegations that the tunnel road would cause environmental hazards in the area. All studies and the construction will be done by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL). The technical studies on this have started. There are many challenges like other roads, forest areas and fragile environments. We will also look into the possibility of natural disasters that can happen at Thiruvanbady and Kallady regions," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his inaugural address.
The CM said that the total cost of the project will come to around Rs 900 crores. In the first phase, the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board has allotted Rs 658 crores for it. The CM said that the exact total cost can only be calculated after the completion of surveys and other studies.
The Chief Minister inaugurated the launch of the project through video call. Once completed, the tunnel road will be the third longest in the country. With this new road, 30 kilometres will be reduced in the distance to travel to Wayanad from Kozhikode.
KRCL has already initiated the technical studies, and are expected to finish a detailed project report in three months. Two KRCL teams are working on the field for survey activities and soil investigation.