The Munnar-Bodimettu stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway (NH85) and the new bridge at Cheruthoni across the Periyar downstream of the Idukki reservoir will be inaugurated on January 5.
According to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the road and bridge at a function in Munnar. The inaugurations were postponed multiple times earlier due to the unavailability of the Union Minister.
According to NHAI officials, all works related to the 41-kilometer-long Munnar-Bodimettu stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway have been completed.
After the inauguration of the road, the toll booth at Devikulam, the first in the district, on the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway will be opened. Earlier, officials had announced the inauguration of the toll booth in the last week of November. But it was postponed due to the protests by political parties.
The Poopara to Munnar stretch of the highway has already emerged as one of the major road tourism attractions of the district. The road’s hairpin bends and misty climate are drawing large crowds to the stretch.
The widening work on the 41-km-long Munnar-Bodimettu stretch began in 2017. The construction works were delayed due to a series of landslips on the Gap Road stretch of the highway. Unscientific road works allegedly led to the landslips. Experts said that rocks were blasted simultaneously at various spots, which shook sensitive layers of rocks, causing the landslips.
The construction of a new bridge at Cheruthoni in Idukki has already been completed. The old Cheruthoni bridge was the only surviving public infrastructure in the area after the 2018 floods.
