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3 min readWayanad (kerala)Updated: Jul 7, 2026 12:48 PM IST
This is the picture of the landslides that struck the hilly areas near Meppadi in Kerala's Wayanad district in July 2024. (Source: Express Archives)
A landslide in the Meenakshi area of Kerala’s Wayanad district on Tuesday is feared to have trapped some people working on the under-construction Kozhikode-Wayanad twin tunnel project.
Meenakshi is only four kilometres from Chooralmala, one of the worst-hit villages of the devastating 2024 landslides that killed around 300 people and wiped out two villages.
Official sources said Wayanad has been witnessing torrential rain since Monday morning. NDRF teams, which have been camping in Wayanad, have rushed to the spot. Some vehicles, which had ferried workers to the construction site, were found buried. Locals rescued three people and rushed them to nearby hospitals.
The construction of the tunnel has been underway from both sides — in Wayanad and Kozhikode. The construction was inaugurated in August last year.
Key project
The Rs 2,134-crore project is expected to boost travel, tourism and business in north Kerala, apart from providing all-weather connectivity to Wayanad, which at present has only four ghat roads to connect with the rest of Kerala. Besides, the tunnel, which will be connected to the Kozhikode-Mysore NH-766, will improve the state’s road connectivity in Bengaluru.
Konkan Railway Corporation is the implementing agency for the project, which is expected to be completed in four years. Construction of the tube tunnels has been awarded to Bhopal-based Dilip Buildcon, while the approach roads and bridges in the project will be constructed by Kolkata-based Royal Construct.
Of the 8.735-km four-lane tunnel road, a stretch of 8.11 km will be the twin tunnels, which will cut through the sensitive Western Ghats. In Wayanad, the tunnel will start at Kalladi. The project also includes two major bridges and three other minor bridges. Every 300 metres, there will be cross-passages to connect the bidirectional twin tunnels.
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The Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on infrastructure projects has recommended environmental clearance for the project, which will require blasting for construction in the fragile Western Ghats. In early April, the expert panel deferred a decision on the proposal and 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.
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