The Public Works Department (PWD) is awaiting a survey report from a private agency to officially commence work on the proposed Chippilithodu-Maruthilavu-Thalipuzha road linking Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.
Tenders for conducting the survey were awarded to Thiruvananthapuram-based Ruby Software India as part of the State government’s plan to decongest the existing Wayanad ghat road section. “The report is expected to be submitted by August 31. After that, the department can proceed with the proposal,” T.S. Sindhu, Executive Engineer, PWD (Roads Division), said.
Last year, the government had earmarked Rs.56 lakh for the 14-km road project. Initially, no agency came forward to take up the contract, as permission was not forthcoming from the Department of Forest and Wildlife. Besides, there were practical difficulties in carrying out the survey, as the road passes through the forest. So the tender had to be re-notified, he added.
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Officials said more than 8 km of the road passed through ecologically fragile land and forest. The rest of the road passes through the grama panchayats of Vythiri, Kodencherry, and Puthuppady. However, they said the State government was likely to face stiff opposition from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). A feasibility report could be worked out only after getting the survey results.
People of both Kozhikode and Wayanad districts have been demanding an alternative road for more than a decade. A reason for this is the heavy traffic on the ghat road. Over 10,000 vehicles pass through the road daily. The road has nine hairpin bends, and, at times, the section is chock-a-block with vehicles most of the time. However, the proposed ghat road will be wider and will have fewer hairpin bends, officials said.
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