Since the contract for the work on the six-line National Highway 544 was signed in 2009, accidents on the Mannuthy-Wadakkanchery stretch has claimed 233 lives.
According to a response received for an RTI query by social activist and DCC general secretary Shaji Kodankandath, the deaths were reported under the Mannuthy, Peechi, and Wadakkanchery police station limits from August 2009 to June 2019.
While 49 people died under the Mannuthy police station limits, 98 people lost their lives under the Peechi police station limit.
No road repairs
The number of deaths reported under the Wadakkanchery police station limit is 86.
Those seriously injured and crippled for life could be many more. “The contract company ignored all safety measures stipulated by the High Court and the Indian Road Congress. They have also failed to repair the road,” Mr. Kodankandath noted.
The State Human Rights Commission too had asked the company to repair the pothole-strewn road from Mannuthy to Kuthiran urgently. But the company ignored all the directives.
A meeting convened by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari with a team of MPs from Kerala led by T.N. Prathapan had instructed the company to repair the existing roads.
Probe sought
In his complaint to the Union Minister, Mr. Prathapan demanded a high-level investigation against KMC, the consigned company, and officials of the National Highway Authority of India, who are allegedly responsible for the delay in completing the works.
Strategic route
The stretch of Mannuthy to Wadakkanchery is a strategic route of transportation between Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, who visited Kuthiran recently, had given an ultimatum of seven days to complete the repair works. As per original plan the work of Mannuthy-Wadakkanchery stretch required just 30 months. But the work, the contract of which was signed in 2009, is still pending. Local people allege the work is being carried out unscientifically without adhering to safety standards.
