Works for longest tunnel road in Kerala begins, CM virtually launches project

The official project launch of the proposed Anakkampoyil-Meppadi tunnel road was held at Thiruvambadi in the district on Monday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the project launch through video conference.

Wayanad/ Kozhikode:The construction of Kerala's longest tunnel road, connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday.

According to reports, 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. In the first phase, the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has allocated Rs 658 crores towards the cost of the project, a total of which has been estimated at Rs 900 crore, reports said.

The Chief Minister inaugurated the launch of the project through a video conference. 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.

The tunnel from Marippuzha Swargamkunnu to Kalladi in Meppadi will be 6.8 km long while the total tunnel road will stretch up to 7.82 km.

Kerala CM stated that the project will be completed without any harm or ill effect on the environment and forests in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.

He also added that the possibilities for a natural disaster would be looked into and considered while preparing the final project report.

Notably, Anakkampoyil-Meppadi tunnel road, one of the Kerala government’s most prestigious projects and has been in discussion for the last few years.