The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on the Wayanad tunnel road project, clearing the way for the state government to proceed with construction aimed at significantly reducing travel time between Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.
The PIL was brought by the Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshna Samithi (WPSS), a local environmental group, which alleged that implementing the tunnel project would adversely affect the district’s ecosystem.
The state government must acquire 33 hectares of land for the construction of the twin tunnels. The tunnel, which will stretch 8.75 kilometers between Anakkampoyil in Kozhikode district and Meppadi in Wayanad, is expected to improve regional connectivity and promote tourism.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the project on August 31 at a function held at St. Mary’s School ground in Anakkampoyil. Once completed, the project will hold the distinction of being Kerala’s longest and India’s third-longest twin-tube tunnel road, with the Konkan Railway Corporation serving as the implementing agency and KITCO Limited as the project proponent.
The WPSS had alleged that the proposed tunnel road, connecting Anakkampoyil in Kozhikode to Kalladi in Meppadi, Wayanad, passes through Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs) and that crucial environmental details were suppressed to obtain statutory clearances.
The petition cited a 2009 report by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) on landslide-prone areas and questioned the legality of the environmental clearance granted by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). WPSS specifically alleged the alignment passes through ESZ-designated villages such as Thiruvambadi in Kozhikode district and Vellarimala in Wayanad.
The tunnel, viewed as a long-awaited solution to chronic traffic congestion along the Thamarassery Ghat stretch of National Highway 766, is projected to be 8.17 km long, including approach roads on both sides, with an estimated total cost of ₹2,134 crore.
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