The Kerala government has undertaken the ambitious project of constructing a coastal highway from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargode over a distance of about 623 km at a cost of ₹6,500 crore. The proposed highway will pass through nine coastal districts.
When the proposed highway reaches Kochi, it has to pass through a deep shipping channel of Kochi Port. On the southern side of the port’s approach channel from the Arabian Sea is Fort Kochi, which represents the prosperous face of the Kochi metropolis, while the 27 km-long Vypeen Island, which is north of Fort Kochi, with an average width of 2 km, represents an under developed, densely populated and less prosperous rural landscape. The challenge is to bridge the gap between Fort Kochi and Vypeen. Is it possible to construct an undersea tunnel connecting the two?
Undersea tunnels are amazing displays of civil, structural and marine engineering. The Channel Tunnel across the English Channel connecting Folkestone in Kent in the U.K. with Coquelles in France is about 50.5 km long. The tunnel is 75 metres below the sea bed. Trains run through it at a speed of 160 km per hour. The Eurasia Tunnel in Turkey is a 5.4 km-long, double-deck tunnel below the sea bed which links the European side of the country with the Asian side. Japan’s Seikan Tunnel is 53.9 km long. In India, reports suggest that the Central government has sanctioned ₹7,000 crore for the construction of an underwater road-cum-rail tunnel across the Brahmaputra river over a distance of 9.8 km. Therefore, the construction of an undersea tunnel between Fort Kochi and Vypeen is a feasible proposition.
