KALPETTA
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has promised to appoint a special officer to study the feasibility of the proposed Poozhithodu-Padinharethara Road, an alternative to the Wayanad Ghat Road.
Residents led by O.J. Johnson, vice chairman, Poozhithodu-Padinharathara Action Council, met the Minister and submitted a memorandum to him on Thursday seeking the immediate intervention of the Ministry for the resumption of construction work for the alternative road. Over 73% of work had been completed, Mr. Johnson said, adding that the rest of the work could be completed in a few weeks, and that it involved the construction of two bridges and eight culverts, he added.
The total length of the road from Poozhithodu in Kozhikode district to Padinharethara in Wayanad is 27.22 km, of which 17.5 km was motorable, and the remaining portion passes through a piece of vested forest. As Forest officials had given a false report saying that the said portion of the road passed through reserved forest, the work was halted, he alleged.
