Kozhikode: The state government has granted administrative sanction for the feasibility study of Poozhithode-Padinjarathara Road, an alternative route to Wayanad from Kozhikode. The government has allotted Rs 1.5 crore for the study.
There was a long pending demand for an easier, ghat-free route to Wayanad. This route which passes through the reserved forest in the Western Ghats spans 28.83 km (10.61 km in Kozhikode and 18.22 km in Wayanad). The road covers a reserved forest area of 13 km.
Poozhithode is a village near Peruvannamuzhi, Perambra, which extends through the reserved forests and ends at Padinjarathara at Wayanad. The proposal for the project was pitched 25 years ago. The road construction was completed in both the districts until the reserved forest areas. Later the work got halted due to technical issues. The main obstacle the project faced was allegedly not acquiring permission from the Union Forest-nature ministry, Though the state revenue department acquired 26 hectares of land (20.770 hectares in Wayanad and 5.56 hectares in Kozhikode) from individuals and handed it over to the forest department, the project did not receive sanction from the Union Ministry.
The project was launched in 1994. The road work had progressed in both districts in different phases, except in forest land. The residents had staged many protests demanding the completion of the road. The latest in the series of protests was a 'Pada Yathra' through the Thamarassery ghat road, led by Kalpetta MLA T. Siddique in December 2023. The demand was also raised during Nava Kerala Sadass, the people's outreach programme held in November-December 2023. Following an order from the PWD minister, a site visit was done by a team of officials in the project area.