Samiti terms MLAs’ protest a farce, says they are not interested in resolving traffic issues on Ghat road

The Wayanad unit of the Prakrithi Samrakshana Samiti has termed the recent protest by T. Siddique and I.C. Balakrishnan, MLAs, a farce alleging that they are not really interested in resolving the traffic issues on the Thamarasseri Ghat road.

A meeting of the samiti on Wednesday pointed out that neither did they suggest any practical solutions to resolve the constant traffic congestion on the ghat road nor did they force the government to face the real reasons for the congestion.

The samiti alleged that the MLAs were trying to protect vested interests and questioned the indifference of O.R. Kelu, the only Minister from the district.

The samiti pointed out that traffic congestion on the Ghat road was not new and that it had escalated over a decade. While the government was busy constructing a tunnel road at a cost of ₹2,500 crore, it had neglected the possibility of developing the five ghat roads to Wayanad which would cost less that ₹500 crore.

“The larger scheme is to ensure a public outrage over traffic congestion, thus paving way for new roads through the Western Ghats. This would help only the land mafia, forest encroachers and resort owners,” the samiti alleged.

“There are no attempts to widen the Thamarassery Ghat road despite the Forest department sanctioning the development. The trucks on the road are overloaded. The Pakramthalam Ghat road does not come under a forest area and hence can be developed easily. Multi-axle vehicles and goods carriers could be diverted through this road. However, there have been no attempts to make it happen. There have been no attempts to control the flow of vehicles from other districts to Wayanad unlike in similar hill stations such as Ooty. As a result even the villages in the district are experiencing traffic blocks at times making normal life difficult,” the samiti pointed out.

The meeting was presided over by president of the samiti N.Badusha.