Demand for underpass at Iringal junction gets louder

The demand for an underpass at Iringal is one-and-half years old. Residents of Iringal, which comes under Payyoli municipality, claimed that they had been divided in half by the highway.

Residents of Iringal village near Vadakara, under the aegis of the Iringal Underpass Protest Committee, took out a march to the office of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Kozhikode on Wednesday demanding immediate action to grant an underpass across National Highway 66 at Iringal junction.

The demand for an underpass at Iringal is one-and-half years old. Residents of Iringal, which comes under Payyoli municipality, claimed that they had been divided in half by the highway. “Once the highway work is completed, people on the east and west sides of the road will have to travel at least 2 km to cross the road. The two halves of the village will be completely cut off from each other,” said Padannayil Prabhakaran, chairman of the protest committee.

The main carriageway of the highway is at least 1.5 metres above the level of the service roads, with concrete walls on both sides, blocking any chance to cross the road. This prevents local residents from accessing major institutions and establishments on both sides of the road. The Iringal LP School, primary health centre, Azhikkal Kadavu, and Nalanda Library are on the eastern side of the road, while the railway station, post office, Akshaya Kendra, rest house, ration shop, Pakalveedu, anganwadi, veterinary hospital, village office, and SSUP School are on the western side. Besides, there are a slew of places of temples and mosques on both sides.

“Even people travelling by bus cannot alight at Iringal and cross the road to reach their homes,” Mr. Prabhakaran added.

The protest committee has garnered the support of MPs P.T. Usha and K. Muraleedharan, and Kanathil Jameela, MLA, besides the Payyoli municipality. In a memorandum submitted to the NHAI project director in Kozhikode, the committee suggested that chainage 206/980 was suitable for a pedestrian underpass as the carriageway was at least 2.30 metres higher than the service road at this portion, and also since work on the road has not progressed much in that section.