Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will announce the project launch of the proposed Anakkampoyil-Meppadi tunnel road on Monday.
The completion of the multi-crore project, which is estimated to cost ₹858 crore, will be one of the milestones in Kozhikode district’s development apart from realising its long-pending dream to have an alternate road to bypass the hairpin bends to Wayanad district.
Since prohibitory orders and COVID-19 regulations are in place, the launch event will be held online. Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac and Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran will attend the online event along with the Chief Minister.
To mark the occasion, it will be screened live in Thiruvambady in the presence of 20 specially invited persons including Ministers T.P. Ramakrishnan and A.K. Saseendran. Entry of the public will not be allowed as part of efforts to comply with the rules.
Three-year work
The plan is to complete the mega project in three years. Konkan Railway Corporation Limited has been entrusted with the survey works, preparation of the Detailed Project Report and project implementation on turnkey agreement. The State government has also taken utmost care in the eco-friendly realisation of the project.
“The survey work is in progress now in the project area. It is going to be a big development leap for our district to have better connectivity with Wayanad district,” said Thiruvambady MLA George M. Thomas.
He said the actual cost of the project could be estimated only on completion of the ongoing survey.
It was in 2014 that a feasibility study of the innovative proposal was done by the government. In 2016, it was officially approved for further proceedings and survey works.
A few months ago, the State government accorded sanction to the estimate of ₹658 crore for implementation under the Kerala State Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.
Bridge to be built
Officials who prepared the preliminary estimate said the cost to complete one-km stretch of the proposed road alone would come around ₹150 crore considering the additional requirements. It would also include the cost of constructing a 70-metre-long bridge at Kundanthodu. The total length of the sub-terrain road would be seven kilometres.