Vengalam Pooladikunnu bypass ready to open

KOZHIKODE: The first state government-funded National Highway project covering 5.1 km of Pooladikunnu- Vengalam stretch of the Kozhikode bypass will be opened  to the public  by  Chief Minister Oommen Chandy  on January 22.  

The Purakkattiri and Korappuzha bridge, part of the  project included in the Speed Kerala Programme, is  one of the longest  in Malabar.

Though the public had demanded direct access to bypass at several points of the National Highway stretch of Vengalam- Pooladikkunnu,  the Uralangal Labour Cooperative Society entrusted with the construction work overlooked the demand citing   traffic congestions on the NH.

According to ULCCS officials, more access of local roads to NH bypass had  led to heavy traffic between  Thondayad and  Ramanatukara on the other side of the Vengalam- Pooladikkunnu stretch.

ULCCS president Ramesh Palleri said, “as per the norms of the PWD, any construction work should be completed within three  years and the deadline given to us was two years.  But we could  complete  the work in  15 months much before the deadline.  We are sending  a message to the public and the government that with our team work we could achieve this target,” he said.  

In three shifts of eight hours each, the workers of ULCCS,  including the higher officials,  worked day and night to complete the  project, he  said.

The 28.12-km Kozhikode bypass was completed in two phases in which the first phase consisted of two reaches that include Idimuzhikkal-  Pantheerankavu and Pantheerankavu- Thondayad.

The second phase consists of three reaches, namely Thondayad - Malapparamba, Malapparamba - Pooladikunnu and Pooladikunnu - Vengalam.