CM Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurates construction of tunnel project near Wayanad landslide site

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Sunday inaugurated the construction of an 8.75-km twin-tunnel project between Kozhikode and Wayanad districts that will cut through the ecologically sensitive Western Ghat hills, close to areas devastated by landslides in 2019 and 2024.

The CPI(M) government’s flagship Rs 2,134-crore project is expected to boost travel, tourism and business in North Kerala, apart from providing all-weather connectivity to Wayanad district, which is currently linked to the rest of the state through four Ghat roads. It will be the third longest road tunnel project in the country upon completion.

The ends of the tunnel are at Maripuzha in Thiruvambady village panchayat (Kozhikode) and Kalladi in Meppadi panchayat (Wayanad). Kalladi is only four km away from Chooralmala, the site of the July 2024 landslide which killed 298 people. Environmental groups as well as the Opposition Congress had opposed the project, which will require blasting for construction in the fragile Ghats. But the Congress has now toed the state government’s line.

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