Centre’s expert panel recommends environmental nod for twin-tunnel road near Wayanad landslide site in Kerala

In early April, the expert panel had deferred a decision on the proposal and had directed the Kerala Government to submit studies on the geology, landslides, and water drainage in the project area. During a meeting on May 14, the panel appraised these studies and recommended conditional clearance for the project.

Key among the conditions was to follow the recommendations of the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) to mitigate the impacts of tunnelling and blasting. In its geological study, the institute had said that tunnelling activities during construction, including vibration from blasting, can lead to landslips if it is uncontrolled. “To manage this, a vibration monitoring plan shall be implemented before tunnelling starts, including demarcating impact areas and regulating blasting charges,” the minutes of the EAC’s May 14 meeting noted.

One of the conditions laid down in the clearance recommendation stated that the Kerala government would have to implement all recommendations of CIMFR to mitigate blasting impacts, and a compliance report would have to be submitted.

The EAC also directed the Kerala government to establish the Appankappu Elephant Corridor, to facilitate the movement of elephants from South Wayanad, Nilambur North Forest division towards the Silent Valley National Park. It was also directed to commission a monitoring study on the endemic and endangered Banasura Chilappan bird found above the proposed tunnel.

Additionally, the EAC has asked the state government to construct elephant underpasses at two locations as well as animal passages, such as culverts, for smaller animals.

Following the devastating July 2024 landslide in Chooralmala-Mundakkai areas in Wayanad that killed 298 people, local environmental groups such as the Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi have opposed the tunnel road, fearing ecological hazards.

The EAC has itself noted that the tunnel alignment passes through highly vulnerable terrain, prone to landslides, including the 2019 Puthumala landslide area. Besides, the project area includes villages demarcated as ecologically sensitive areas by the Centre in its draft notification on the protection of Western Ghats.

The proposed 8.75-km tunnel road was cleared in March by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), as the project size mandates appraisal only at the state level. However, the central-level EAC was appraising the project as the tenure of the members of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, which grants final approvals on the SEAC’s recommendation, had ended.