Achencoil-Chittar highway by November

The Achencoil-Chittar-Sabarimala Hill Highway will be completed in a time-bound manner so as to open it for public transport well before the next Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season that begins in November, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash has said.

The work on the 1.6-km stretch of the road passing through the forests at Neelipilavu in the Ranni forest division was progressing. The Minister told The Hindu that the government had sanctioned Rs.1.35 crore for laying interlocking cement paving blocks on the 1.6-km stretch of the road at Neelipilavu as the Forest Department opposed tarring in the forest area, he said.

He said the laying of the cement blocks was under way and the work along the 500-m stretch of the road had already been completed. Irish concreting would also be done on either side of the road in order to ensure its strength and safety, he said.

Hill highway project

The work on the highway project, linking Achencoil with Sabarimala via Tura, Kallely, Eliyarackal, Konni, Thannithode, and Chittar, which began in 2007, had hit a roadblock a year later, with the Forest Department stalling the work following objections raised by an eco-group, Prakruthi Samrakshana Ekopana Samiti.

Mr. Prakash said the Forest Department and the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment had cleared the project, treating it as a feasible one that could check anti-forest activities in the region, besides bringing development to the villages adjoining the forests in the Achencoil, Konni, and Ranni forest divisions.

Distance to be reduced

The forest road links Achencoil with the Mannarakulanji-Pampa main trunk road leading to Sabarimala, via Konni, Thannithode, and Chittar, reducing the distance between Achencoil and Sabarimala by 40 km.

Mr. Prakash said the proposed Achencoil-Chittar-Sabarimala Hill Highway project envisaged the overall development of the hilly areas of Konni and Ranni without altering the environment and eco-system.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)-funded road project, estimated at Rs.13.7 crore, involved development of various existing roads from Achencoil to Chittar. Of this, 35.37 km pass through the forest areas of Achencoil (5.375 km), Konni (28.475 km), and Ranni (1.6 km).