The Kuttiyadi-Pakramthalam Ghat Road, which is used by motorists as an alternative way to reach Wayanad, will be beautified with the participation of various people’s committees and volunteers under the Green Kerala Mission. A mass cleaning drive with the participation of various people’s committees and volunteering groups will be conducted along the road, clearing the undergrowth and plastic dumps on December 27 as part of beginning the beautification project.
The Pakramthalam mountain pass, one of the major gates to the Wayanad district, has been in a totally neglected state with the pending renovation of damaged stretches and the overgrown undergrowths reducing road visibility. Though some of the local collectives had attended voluntary cleaning works, there was no patronage by authorities.
Local body members of Kavilumpara panchayat will coordinate the beautification works which were finalised at a recent meeting. Workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Kudumbasree units will team up with the panchayat to complete the initiative.
Panchayat president Annamma George says the scenic Ghat Road section will attract more visitors with the completion of the already planned works on the seven-kilometre stretch. Following the restriction imposed on heavy vehicles on the Thamarassery Ghat Road, more vehicles, including those used by tourists, are now depending on this alternative road to Wayanad, she points out.
The Tourism Department will also contribute for the development of the mountain pass as part of the attempts to attract more sightseers to the less-tapped route. District Collector U.V. Jose, who is also the chairman of the District Tourism Promotion Council, will inaugurate the beautification project and explain the development plans under consideration.
Panchayat authorities say maximum number of avenue tree saplings will be planted along the road as part of the beautification project. Efforts will be made to make it a no-plastic zone by intensifying vigil against waste dumpers by forming Ghat Road protection committees.
For long, the ignored stretches of the road had been used as a waste dumping area by passers-by and motorists and it will be totally stopped under the new initiative, they say.
