The Kuthiran tunnels, which are in the final stage of completion, will be opened for the public soon. It is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the six-lane stretch of Mannuthy- Wadakancherry national highway, two tunnels are being dug through the Kuthiran hills.
Kuthiran tunnel just opened for few vehicles due to heavy block and that help to capture the internal view of that.
Kuthiran gradient is situated in the Kuthiran Hills, which falls in the notified Wild Life Sanctuary. Presently, Kuthiran gradient is a major traffic bottleneck and accident spot on the crowded Thrissur-Palakkad stretch of the National Highway 544 (India). Once the works are completed, both the tunnels would reduce the distance between Kochi to Coimbatore up to 3 kilometres (1.86 mi). The tunnel through the Kuthiran will also avoid vehicular congestions while traversing the hills.
The twin tube tunnels will have length of almost 1 kilometer (962 m or 3,156 ft), while the width and height would be 14 and 10 metres (46 and 33 ft), respectively. The tunnels would be located in a gap of 20 metres (66 ft). There are two emergency crossovers inside the tunnel.