The mudslide disaster at the planned entry point of the Wayanad Tunnel, officially named as the Anakkampoyil - Kalladi - Meppadi Tunnel has taken the lives of at least three persons at the time of writing. Wayanad, an extremely eco-sensitive region of the Western Ghats, has witnessed multiple landslide and mudslide disasters in recent years, after large-scale constructions were accelerated in the region. The Chooralmala Landslide disaster of 2024 had taken the lives of 420 persons with an additional 47 persons reported missing.

Today’s event of mudslide at the tunnel site of the Wayanad Tunnel Site has been termed as a manmade disaster by T Siddique, Kerala’s Agriculture Minister, who is also the representing MLA of Kalladi, the village where the disaster took place.

He has said that the District Collector and the National Disaster Response Force had directed the project’s contractors to remove the massive excavation debris, which was mounted up near the tunnel site. They were also told to temporarily stop the construction work on account of heavy monsoon rains. These directions were evidently ignored by the contractors.

This region in Wayanad had received heavy rainfall in the past two days, which has led to the excavation mud and boulders from the tunnel site to suddenly erode and come gushing down, resembling the deadly Chooralmala Landslide of 2024.

What Is Wayanad Tunnel Project

The mega budget tunnel road project is supposed to connect the towns of Wayanad and Kozhikode via the Kerala State Highway 83 by reducing the travel time significantly and avoiding dependency on the Thamarassery Ghat Road. The twin tunnel road, when completed, will be 8.1 kilometres long, and will be India’s third longest tunnel. The project is envisaged as an all weather twin tube tunnel, with two lane roads in each direction, that will bypass the Thamarassery Ghat road. This tunnel is supposed to ease the travel congestion between North Kerala and Bengaluru creating a major transit corridor.

Estimated at Rs 2,134.5 crore, the tunnel’s construction is executed by the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL) for the Government of Kerala via a Special Vehicle (SPV) Agreement. A private construction firm named Dilip Buildcon Limited (DPL) won the tender floated by KRCL in 2024,out of 7 bids. According to DPl’s bid, they would build the tunnel road for Rs 1341 crore, within a construction period of 4 years.

The construction was started in August 2025, with the rock excavation starting in early 2026, which was one of the poll campaign ploy for the previous Pinrayi Vijayan- led LDF for the 2026 Kerala Assembly Elections.

Construction Was Not Stopped Despite Orders

CCTV visuals from the accident site shows DPL a tanker, which gets washed away with the mudslide, underlining Kerala Minister T Siddique’s words that the construction was not stopped by the construction company despite receiving orders from the NDRF and the District Collectors to remove the soil from the tunnel site.

This was further backed by Kerala CM Satheesan, who said that the order was issued on June 20. According to local reports, there was a minor mudslide that happened on that day, prompting the authorities to issue the directive. “The contractors has not obeyed the orders issued by the Honourable District Collector and the Disaster Management Authority,” CM Satheesan said.

The injured persons, who were rescued initially are migrant labourers who worked at the construction site. The death toll from the incident is likely to increase, as rescuers are yet to find all 7 persons who are reported missing. According to the local reports, the missing numbers itself could be much more, as the accident site is a popular pitstop for tourists who come to Wayanad.

Rescue efforts are underway in the disaster-struck ecologically sensitive region of Wayanad, which has again posed a reminder of threats from large-scale construction at the cost of destruction of nature.

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