On July 31, one side of the Kuthiran Tunnel in Kerala was opened for traffic. It is the first road tunnel in the state of Kerala. Located at Kuthiran, district Thrissur, the twin-tube tunnel has three lanes in each tube. On Monday, Ratnakar, State General Secretary, BJP Gujarat, said in a tweet that because of the tunnel, a two-hour journey became a 10-minute journey and thanked the Government of India for infrastructure development.
https://twitter.com/ratnakar273/status/1424540776218828802?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwMany interpreted his tweet as a misleading claim that the travelling distance between Thrissur and Coimbatore has been reduced due to the tunnel. In response, several netizens pointed out that the distance has been reduced only by a few KM and called Ratnakar’s tweet fake or misleading.
https://twitter.com/Beahumane1st/status/1424691975941328896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/joeurcrazy/status/1424632798711738368?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe tunnel facilitates ease of traffic, doesn’t affect distance much
The tunnel is 1.6 KM long. Even with the time added that the vehicle would spend on toll before entering the tunnel, the total time to cover the distance is expected to be less than ten minutes. The total distance between Kochi to Coimbatore is reduced only by three KMs. However, the actual time spent on this stretch via regular route is much more than a vehicle should spend.
Notably, the Kuthrain mountain terrain on the Mannuthy-Wadakkanchery stretch of the Thrissur-Palakkad highway is an accident-prone region. There is always traffic congestion due to bottleneck narrow passage. Hence the time spent by a vehicle on this stretch sometimes gets extended to several hours. What Ratnakar said in his tweet makes sense for those who know details about the stretch that could be noticed in some replies.
https://twitter.com/sumeshn4ir/status/1424736677050736640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/UdaiMuralidhar1/status/1424593320227983361?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAbout Kuthiran Tunnel
It is the first road tunnel in Kerala. There was no formal inaugural ceremony by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The tunnel passed through the Peechi-Vazahani wildlife sanctuary, but the ministry has ensured that it would not affect the wildlife.
https://twitter.com/nitin_gadkari/status/1421396196099190784?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwUnion Minister Nitin Gadkari instructed to open one side of the tunnel at 5 PM for traffic. Notably, the tunnel will relieve travellers who would otherwise spend hours in traffic blocks that might last for hours in the Kuthiran hill. The distance can be covered in a few minutes now.
While announcing the tunnel’s opening, the minister had said, “We will open one side of the Kuthiran Tunnel in Kerala today. This is the first road tunnel in the state and will drastically improve connectivity to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The 1.6 km long tunnel is designed through Peechi- Vazahani wildlife sanctuary.”
He added in a follow-up tweet, “The road will improve connectivity to important ports and towns in North-South Corridor without endangering wildlife. Under the leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji, transformation in the country’s infrastructure is ensuring better economic opportunities to every citizen.”
An official inauguration has been planned once the inspection is over, and the second tunnel would be set to open for the public. Some work is left on the upper side of the open tunnel that would be completed once the second side is open and traffic could be diverted. There are also some concerns over landslips during heavy rains, which is being looked upon.