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After long delays and massive protests, the first phase of the four-lane Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu road in Kozhikode has finally been opened to traffic.
The Mananchira-Malaparamba stretch of the road project was inaugurated by Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas at Malaparamba on Monday (March 9, 2026). He also launched the construction of the second phase, the Malaparamba-Vellimadukunnu reach.
Speaking at the function, Mr. Riyas said that the construction of 12 roads in Kozhikode would begin at a cost of over ₹1,000 crore.
He said the Malaparamba-Vellimadukunnu four-lane road project had initially faced technical hurdles related to the National Highways Authority of India. “However, instead of waiting for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Union government, the State government decided to divide the project into two parts and begin construction. Work was started on one stretch while efforts continued to obtain the NOC for the other. With the obstacles now cleared, it is a major achievement that the entire stretch can be upgraded,” the Minister said.
To ease congestion
Mr. Riyas said that once the entire Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu road was upgraded, it would significantly ease traffic congestion in Kozhikode city and save a considerable amount of travel time for the public. “The government’s goal is to transform Kozhikode into a New Calicut, just as Delhi became New Delhi. The Paris-model Canal City project, worth over ₹1,000 crore, along with BM&BC standard roads, will change the face of the city,” he said.
The proposal to widen the existing Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu road was announced in the 2008-09 State Budget. Though the draft declaration was issued in 2013, it took several years for completing land acquisition and the work on the first phase was launched only in June 2025.
A total of 8.39 km is being upgraded into four lanes with a width of 24 m under the Kozhikode City Road Development Project of the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB).
First phase
In the first phase, the Mananchira-Malaparamba reach, which is mostly completed, covers a distance of 5.32 km. The remaining works include laying slabs over drainage and ducts, laying interlock tiles on footpath, and erecting dividers. Work on the reach was completed at a cost of ₹76.90 crore. The road will have two carriageways, each 8.5 metres wide, with a median in the middle and two-metre-wide footpaths on both sides. There are nine junctions along this stretch.
The Malaparamba-Vellimadukunnu stretch has a total length of 3.02 km. It will be implemented at a cost of ₹50.49 crore.
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