The section of the underpass tunnel is just 3 kilometres away from the landslide that took place in Mundakkai and Chooral Mala that led to the loss of 340 people and more than 200 missing.
An ariel view of the Kozhikode – Wayanad Ghat road
Wayanad: Kerala government’s much-trumpeted Kozhikode-Wayanad Tunnel (KWT), the 8.75 kilometre-long, twin-tube underpass connecting the two districts, Kozhikode and Wayanad which is to pass through the same region where the landslides took place in Mundakkai is now facing heavy backlash from environment experts, activists and a section of general public.
“If any humanity or wisdom is left with the state government, it should immediately halt its construction, at least until more comprehensive and authoritative environmental impact studies are done, considering the suffering that just took place”, said Sridhar Ramakrishnan, environmental expert and activist.
Also Read
The section of the underpass tunnel is just 3 kilometres away from the landslide that took place in Mundakkai and Chooral Mala that led to the loss of 340 people and more than 200 missing.
The Central Government-constituted State Environment Impact Assessment Authority Kerala (SEIAA) raised serious reservations over the Wayanad tunnel in May this year. This is even after the project won in April 2023 the preliminary clearance from the he Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
The 6.8-kilometre bypass for the Thamarassery Ghat road will be the third longest underpass in the country. The state government has given administrative sanction for Rs 658 crore through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The Konkan Railway Corporation Limited has been roped in for the construction of the project.
The Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, an environmentalist group has slammed the project and has come out with a number of reasons on why the project should be stalled as they believe that the underpass tunnel will lead to a major environmental disaster.
In the aftermath of the landslides that took place just 3 kilometres away from tunnel in Wayanad, the group stated that one more landslide will lead to a major loss of property and human lives.
“The tunnel will be passing underneath the mountain ranges that are part of the ecologically highly sensitive. Chembramala-Vellarimala camel hub complex. The Chaliyar river also originates from there. This region is second to none when it comes to biological diversity. It was on the eastern side of this mountain ranges that the Mundakkai landslide and last 2020 Puthumala landslide happened. This region records five-fold of the average rainfall received in Wayanad and witnesses’ landslips frequently. These mountain ranges have rock formations that are 150 million years old and they receive 1000 mm rainfall a day”, a statement by the Samithi said.
The Geological Survey of India, in its study submitted to the state government after the floods in 2018, has directed to avoid human intervention in these regions. Once the underpass is implemented, it is estimated that there will be a difference of seven kilometres between Kozhikode and Bangalore.
However, with the landslides in Mundakkai and Chooral Mala leading to debates and discussions on the need to protect ecologically sensitive areas, the viability of the tunnel project will be under scrutiny.
Below is Wayanad’s shocking list of major landslides in the last four decades, making it a red spot of extreme ecological vulnerability.
Date place Toll
June15, 1984 Puthuppadi 8
July 2, 1984 Meppadi 18
October 9, 1984 Kozhikode – Wayanad 17
June 19, 1992 Padinjarethara 11
August 8, 2019 Puthumala 19
July 30, 2024 Mundakkai 340 (Counting)
Next Article
Follow us on social media
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.