KOZHIKODE: The public works department (highways) is awaiting the green signal from the union ministry of forests and environment for the expansion of five hairpin bends of the Wayanad ghat road. The application of the state for expanding the 3rd, 5th, 6th , 7th and 8th bends is pending with the ministry.
The two hairpin bends that were expanded years back with concrete bricks has proved to be a success.
Kozhikode Divisional Forest Officer K.K. Sunilkumar told DC that the PWD had already remitted the amount as compensation. "All the formalities are over and we need just the green signal from the union government," he added. The travel through the ghat road is a nightmare. "There is no guarantee when you will reach the other end of the nine-km ghat section," said Jeneesh Vakeri, a driver. "A truck trapped in the gutter of a hairpin bend would be enough to create a three-hour traffic block, " he said. The ordeal is confined to just three hours due to the efforts of the volunteers of the ghat road protection committee and the traffic police.
A brainstorming session on the development of ghat road was held at Kozhikode collectorate on October 13, which ended with a ban on parking in the ghat section from November 1. Though district collector U.V. Jose has been reiterating that funds were cleared for the immediate repairing of bends, nothing has changed on ground.
