Traffic on the Gap Road stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway may resume soon with the district administration considering an alternative route in the area where a major landslip destroyed nearly 200 metres of the road on Wednesday. District Collector H. Dinesan will visit the area on Sunday to look into the option of a temporary route to resume the traffic.
Since the road-widening works were launched on the Gap Road in 2019, over 15 major landslips have been reported, apparently due to the unscientific works. The works were indefinitely suspended in July 2019 after a major landslip took the lives of two workers. An expert team from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, (NIT-C), inspected the area and the works were allowed after ensuring safety measures such as a retaining wall.
Rex Felix, Assistant Executive Engineer, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India), said there was a massive formation of rocks with different plates which could fall any time.
The landslip brought down the entire rock formation. The area would be strengthened by constructing a retaining wall, he added.
