Lok Sabha Debates
Need To Widen The Wayanad Pass Located On Nh 212 Between Calicut And Bangaluru And ... on 24 August, 2011
> Title: Need to widen the Wayanad pass located on NH 212 between Calicut and Bangaluru and open the existing alternate roads connecting Wayanad to other parts of Kerala.
SHRI M.I. SHANAVAS (WAYANAD): Wayanad pass is a British-engineered pass located in the vital Calicut-Bengaluru NH 212, and its structural rigidity is at stake owing to impact of repeated natural calamities, including a massive landslide in the year 2009, severely affecting its structural integrity. Several state agencies, including Kerala State Remote Sensing Agency and Centre for Water Resources and Management have studied in-depth about the Wayanad pass and found that it is becoming weaker. Due to the ban on traffic during night in the NH 212, numerous large haulers and heavy duty container carriers carrying more than 36,000 kilos are plying through the Wayanad pass, adding the chances of its collapse, which if happens, would cut off the people of Wayanad from the rest of Kerala. There are several alternate routes proposed by the government of Kerala with funds allocated for the purpose, but the sanction from Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is yet to be granted, thereby making the realization of proposed alternate roads difficult to achieve. I, therefore, would request the Government to expedite the procedure to widen the Wayanad pass and interlock the turns in the hairpin bends. I would also urge the Government to mitigate all administrative delays in granting necessary sanctions and expedite all essential clearances from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for the existing alternate roads to be operational as early as possible so that in a scenario where the pass gives in, the people of Wayanad will not be disconnected from the rest of Kerala.