Despite experts warning that the Ghat Road connecting Mannarkkad with Coimbatore via Silent Valley and Attappady is prone to frequent landslips and flooding during the monsoon season, the stretch remains in disrepair due to the lackadaisical attitude of the Public Works Department.
The State budget has earmarked ₹80 crore for the reconstruction of the stretch which was severely damaged in the rain that lashed the region during September last. But the department is yet to prepare an estimate for the work. It will take at least three months to prepare the estimate and submit it for the approval of the State Cabinet. Though the investigation work on the road was completed last week, the report is yet to be submitted for further action.
People’s representatives from the region met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Monday and sought his intervention to initiate the work on a war-footing. He has promised to intervene in the matter.
Connecting Mannarkkad with Coimbatore and Ooty, the road is the only link for the aborigine community of Attappady to the outer world.
Following an earlier landslide, the whole region remained cut off for more than three months because of the slow progress in repair works. The PWD did only minimum work last year and the stretch from Mannarkkad to Mukkali in Silent Valley remains unfit for road users.
Despite the poor condition of the road, hundreds of vehicles play the stretch every day. The bad state of the road is also preventing ecotourism enthusiasts bound for Silent Valley National Park.
Though the PWD had earlier promised an alternative road without hairpin bends, no follow-up action has been taken. The alternative road has been under the active consideration of the PWD since 2014 because of the landslips between Mukkali and Mannarkkad every monsoon. The proposed road will reduce the distance between Attappady and district headquarters Palakkad by about 30 km.
The distance from Attappady to Palakkad via Coimbatore is about 150 km. Whenever landslip occurs, people have to travel all these distance to reach the district headquarters.
“The safety of the ghat road is now a matter of concern. The alternative road is not materialising because of the objections raised by the Forest Department. With the monsoon approaching, there are concerns about the safety of the road users,” says tribal activist K.A. Ramu.
