PWD appoints nodal officers for Poozhithode–Padinjarathara road project

The Public Works department (PWD) has appointed nodal officers to coordinate initial activities for the proposed Poozhithode-Padinjarathara road connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.

A high-level meeting chaired by Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas on Monday (September 29) appointed Hashim V.K., Executive Director (Roads Division), PWD, Kozhikode, as the nodal officer to coordinate the works. Meanwhile, PWD Additional Secretary Shibu A. has been appointed as the nodal officer to coordinate the activities with other departments.

The Minister has directed officials to complete the alignment of the road by October 15 and to prepare the initial detailed project report (DPR) by October 25. The final DPR will be prepared after proper inspections later. The Minister said the project was a widely anticipated one for the people of Kozhikode and Wayanad districts, and that the department would make all efforts to realise it.

The Poozhithode-Padinjarathara road between Poozhithode in Chakkittapara grama panchayat of Kozhikode and Padinjarathara in Wayanad has been deemed the most cost-effective, most environment-friendly, and the easiest alternative to the Wayanad Ghat Road as a form of connectivity between the two districts.

While the initial works of the 27.225 km road started in 1994, and 70% of the work has been completed, the project had to be put off due to opposition from the Forest department. As many as 183 families, 150 in Wayanad and 33 in Kozhikode district, had given up land for the project way back in 1994. The 2-km stretch from Poozhithode to Panakkamkadavu, a 5-km mud road from Panakkamkadavu to Karinkanni in the Kozhikode side, and the Padinjarathara-Kappikkalam stretch on the Wayanad side together constitute 14.285 kilometres, thus leaving 12.94 km more to be completed. This consists of 9 km of forest land over which the Forest department raised an objection in 1995, citing that it was a reserved forest and could not be allowed to be destroyed.

It was in 2024 that the State government sanctioned ₹1.5 crore for a feasibility study, which was recently completed.

The results of the study were uploaded to the Parivesh (Pro-Active and Responsive Facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous, and Environmental Single Window Hub) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Further action on the road project depends on the clearance of the Ministry.