THRISSUR: The second tunnel of the twin-tube tunnel at Kuthiran on NH-544 was opened for traffic on Thursday. The state government, as in the opening of the first tunnel, remained in the dark about it until Wednesday. Works Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, however, said the PWD had been monitoring the works continuously.
As per the new arrangement, vehicles going in Palakkad direction are being diverted through the second tunnel. Earlier, vehicles were passing in both directions through the first tunnel, which was opened on July 30. Works like installing lighting and traffic signals were incomplete in the second tunnel. Yet, it used to be opened on an emergency basis to avoid huge traffic blocks on the route.
Only when Thrissur District Collector Haritha V Kumar received a letter from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), asking the district administration to allow the opening of the second tunnel from Thursday, the state government came to know about it.
The collector said the NHAI highlighted the need to open the second tunnel for traffic diversion so that construction work of the approach road to the tunnel could be speeded up. The contracting company had also sought the same from NHAI.
Riyas and Revenue Minister K Rajan told mediapersons that the second tunnel was opened temporarily as a part of traffic diversion. They said it was not the official opening. “It is unfortunate the media has reported the state government was unaware of the opening of the tunnel and the plans to start toll collection. We had given clear instruction to NHAI that toll collection could only be started after completing pending works including that of the approach road,” said Riyas.
Before the second tunnel was opened, an emergency meeting was held online on Thursday morning in the presence of Riyas. He urged the NHAI officials to communicate everything related to the tunnel to the district collector before taking decisions. The work of the approach road to the tunnel is still going on though temporary traffic diversion has been allowed through it. The minister added that the tunnel would be officially opened in April once all related works are completed.
Twin wonder
Kerala’s first twin-tube highway tunnel has six lanes
The tunnel on the left side is 955-metre long
Right tube is 944-metre long
Total width: 10 metres
Work commenced: 2016
It passes through Peechi-Vazhani wildlife sanctuary
The work is being carried out by NHAI
The left tunnel was opened on July 30, 2021