KOZHIKODE: This Xmas-New Year season it would be a nightmarish travel experience for tourists to Wayanad due to the dilapidated condition of curves that cause endless traffic jams. The traffic jam that began on Friday night continued till 10am on Saturday after a Bangalore-bound Scania bus got trapped in the hairpin bend on Friday night. Though the police claim that they are diverting big trucks to other roads in tune with the decision of the high-level meeting, big trucks manage to reach the Ghat road rather than use the circuitous routes, say passengers.
Though the Public Works Department had invited a tender, none of the construction companies turned up for the bid, it is learned. It is to be recalled that a meeting of MLAs and district collectors of two districts along with officials held at the collectorate here, on October 13, had decided to repair the hairpin bends on a war-footing , but the curves continue to hold up traffic. A passenger KP Gireeshkumar who got trapped in a bus from Thiruvananthapuram to Sulthan Bathery told DC that he reached Sulthan Bathery at 10 pm whereas as per plan he should have reached there by 6 pm.
“My vehicle got trapped in the traffic snarl. Because of virtual craters on the curves, I had to go for treatment due to acute back pain,” he added. KSRTC services between Wayanad and Kozhikode were hit badly from Friday night with thousands of passengers being trapped in the ghats. However KSRTC resumed its services on the route from Kozhikode by noon.
“All our buses reached their destinations only by noon”, said KSRTC zonal manager Joshy John. KSRTC is wondering whether to ply buses on the route as delays have become routine. Police warned people against travelling to Wayanad during the X’mas- New Year season, citing the recurring traffic blocks in the stretch. Tiruvambadi MLA George M. Thomas told DC that though the state government was trying to get the hairpin bends repaired, construction groups were not cooperating. Though there were three attempts to tender the works, none of the construction groups turned up for the bid,” he added.
