Kozhikode: Showering praise on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Bishop Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil of Thamarassery remarked that without a leader as determined as him, the Wayanad tunnel project would never have come to fruition. Despite facing hurdle after hurdle, the CM overcame them all, the Bishop said at the inauguration of the Anakkampoyil–Kalladi–Meppadi tunnel road.

Recalling his own meeting with the Chief Minister to discuss the project, the Bishop said the CM had given his firm assurance that it could be implemented. “If we did not have a Chief Minister with such determination, this would not have materialised,” he said, adding that the CM had remained steadfast behind the initiative. “That is why today it is a reality,” he emphasised. The Bishop also expressed gratitude to former finance ministers K M Mani and Oommen Chandy for allocating early funding.

MLA T Siddique also praised the Chief Minister for championing the Wayanad tunnel project. He recalled that Oommen Chandy and K M Mani had previously sanctioned ₹2 crore for the initiative. Today, he said, the CM is leading the project to its full fruition.

The inauguration took place on Sunday at 4 pm at St Mary’s School Ground in Anakkampoyil. The project will be Kerala’s longest tunnel and the third longest twin-tube tunnel in India. It stretches 5.58 km in Wayanad and 3.15 km in Kozhikode. The tunnel connects the Anakkampoyil–Marippuzha–Muthappanpuzha road in Kozhikode with the Meppadi–Kalladi–Chooralmala road in Wayanad. Of the total 8.73 km, 8.11 km will be twin tunnels. The project is expected to be completed in four years.