Environmental organisations in Wayanad have urged the government to reinforce and widen the five ghat sections of roads, including the Thamarassery Ghat section of the road on Kozhikode-Kollegal National Highway 766, to the district by using modern technology to tackle traffic holdups, instead of constructing alternative and tunnel roads.
A meeting of the Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samiti here on Wednesday urged the government to use its pressure on the central government to get forest land to develop the roads.
Though the government was planning to construct a tunnel and trying to materialise many proposed alternative roads, the roads and tunnel would not be a permanent and practical solution to address the issue.
The impact of the constructions could not be predicted as most of the works would take place on the ecologically sensitive areas and it was identified as red zone in the recent studies organised by CESS.
Moreover, construction works would destroy the remaining patches of forest in the area. If the projects would get environmental clearance, it would take at least 20 years to complete, which would result in further traffic holdups on the ghat road.
A restriction placed by the Kozhikode district administration for the entry of multi-axle vehicles and larger goods carriers to the Thamarassery Ghat Road on weekends and public holidays to address the recurring traffic snarls on the route from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. would not make any positive results. Hence, the entry of the vehicles should be restricted from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m., the meet said.
