Action committee seeks Thamarassery bypass road to clear traffic bottleneck on Ghat Road

A group of traders and merchants from Kozhikode and Wayanad districts have set up an action committee demanding the construction of a bypass road from Thamarassery to clear the traffic bottleneck on the Ghat Road.

V.K. Hussain Kutty, chairman of the committee, and T.R. Omanakkuttan, general convener, told the media on Saturday (September 13) that traffic snarls had become the order of the day on this part of the NH 766 connecting Kozhikode and Kollegal in Karnataka. When falling rocks and a mud slip were reported on the stretch recently, it took days to clear the road. The committee functionaries, who are also leaders of the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, pointed out that all the businesses on the route were affected because of this.

Mr. Omanakkuttan pointed out that the proposed bypass road starting from the entry to Thusharagiri on the first hairpin curve to Thalippuzha in Wayanad would solve the issue to a large extent. This road would reduce the travelling distance to Wayanad by around one and a half km too. There was already a panchayat road to an extent of 5.4 km till the forest area of Maruthilavu. Though a land survey for the road had been done in 2006, the project did not make much headway. The State Public Works department should submit a detailed project report to the Centre, and tenders should be called for the construction works, he said.

The committee functionaries, however, claimed that the proposed Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi tunnel road and the Poozhithode-Padinjarathara alternative road connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts would not address the traffic bottleneck on the Ghat Road. They said that people from Thamarassery would have to travel a longer distance to reach Wayanad, even if they choose these roads.

The committee members are planning to take out a ‘jatha’ from Sulthan Bathery to Vythiri on September 16 and from Adivaram to Kozhikode city on September 17 to drive home their point.