Huge rocks fell on the Gap Road stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi national highway on Sunday night blocking the road.
Heavy rain triggered the landslips where road work was in progress. The stretch has witnessed over 20 major landslips since the road- widening work started.
According to Devikulam Subcollector Rahul Krishna Sharma the landslip on Sunday night was a major one. However, there was no causality, he said. Traffic was suspended from Monday and it would take some days to clear the debris, he added.
Rex Felix, assistant executive engineer, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that the works to clear the debris started on Monday morning. However, heavy rain hampered the work and it would be resumed after the rain subsided, he said.
The road traffic along the Gap Road stretch had been suspended for nearly six months following a major landslip on June 17, 2020. Another major landslip on August 6 destroyed vast areas of cardamom cultivation on the downhill areas of the road.
The road-widening work on the Gap Road stretch resumed last November and it was nearly completed in July. The road was partially opened for traffic on a trial basis last month. The ₹268.2-crore road-widening work on the 41-km Munnar-Bodimettu stretch began in 2017. There were widespread allegations that the unscientific road works triggered the landslips. Rocks were blasted simultaneously at various spots and this shook sensitive layers of rocks causing the landslips, it was alleged.
