Four and a half decades wait is over; Thalassery - Mahe Bypass becoming reality; Prime Minister to inaugurate on 11th

THALASSERY: After four and a half decades of waiting, the Thalassery-Mah Bypass Road will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a video conference in Thiruvananthapuram on the 11th. 18.6 km bypass from Muzhappilangad to Mahe-Azhiyur has been completed. Those coming from Kannur side can reach Azhiyur in Kozhikode district by crossing Mahe without entering Thalassery and Mahe cities. It will take only 20 minutes to cover this distance. It will take less than half the time it takes at present. With the completion of the bypass, the traffic jams in Thalassery and Mahe will be solved.

As the trial run has been allowed ahead of the inauguration, there has been a non-stop flow of vehicles for the past two days. The new road was opened for trial run in the presence of BL Meena, Regional Officer, National Highways Department and project directors. The road was opened but closed again for a short time. The road was closed when the vehicles entered the service road breaking the traffic rules. The authorities created awareness and controlled the traffic. Mahe police controlled traffic at the East Palloor signal in Mahe area.

Ernakulam-based EKK Infrastructure Limited was responsible for the construction. The company began construction in 2018 after decades of opposition and court litigation. The work was delayed due to covid and flood. The workers who had come to work on the road were also withdrawn.

21 underpasses

From Muzhappilangad, the road reaches Azhiyur via Dharmadam, Eranjoli, Thalassery, Kodiyeri and Mahe. The Thalassery-Mahe Bypass consists of an over bridge, a railway over bridge, 21 underpasses and a toll plaza. There are 5.5-meter-wide service roads on both sides of the bypass. The only signal point is at East Palloor in Mahe.

Governors Arif Mohammad Khan, Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Ministers Pinarayi Vijayan, N Rangaswamy, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, V Muralidharan, Dr VK Singh, Ministers P. A. Mohammed Riyas, K Lakshmi Narayanan, MPs V Vaidyalingam, Dr Shashi Tharoor, K Sudhakaran, AA Rahim, John Brittas, Selvaganapathy, P Santhosh Kumar, Dr V Sivadas, MLAs KK Rama, Ramesh Parampath CK Harindran and K Ansalan will be present.