Noyal Xaviour, a Class X student at Fathima Matha High School at Chinnakkanal and a resident of Devikulam — both located some 14 km apart in the hilly Idukki district — has not been able to attend school for the past week. A landslip occurred on the Gap Road stretch of the Munnar-Bodimettu road, which is part of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway, on June 30, leading to the closure of the route taken by Xaviour’s school bus.
“With the road closed, I was forced to take a much longer route, traveling over 70 km each way, spending a few hours just to get to school. I failed to arrive on time or return home before 8 p.m.,” he rues.
After enduring a week of disruption, Xaviour’s mother, Reji George, decided to move her son to a relative’s home at Chinnakkanal to keep up with his studies. “We are at a loss about how to deal with this situation,” she shrugs helplessly.
This isn’t the first time that the road has stood in the way of people’s movement in the area. Trouble began ever since the 42-km Munnar-Bodimettu stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway was reopened post-widening in 2022. Ironically, it was an instant hit with vloggers and social media influencers flocking to it for its scenic beauty. As the gateway to the popular hill station of Munnar, it linked visitors from Thekkady and Tamil Nadu to Munnar and other destinations in Idukki.
The stretch shot to fame when images and videos of the truck carrying the rice-raiding tusker Arikomban from Chinnakkanal to the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady went viral on social media. Tourists flocked to the area for its tea plantations, hairpin bends, misty weather, and the Anayirankal dam catchment area.
But things took a bad turn when traffic along Gap Road became hazardous during the monsoons due to frequent rockfalls. Much of the current monsoon season has witnessed landslips and rockfalls, leading to intermittent road closures, with a major rockfall on the morning of July 30 causing the latest closure. The Idukki district administration now restricts travel on the stretch during red or orange alerts, impacting schoolchildren, teachers, tourists, and local residents. The road remains the primary route connecting Periyakanal with Munnar, and its repeated closures continue to disrupt daily life.
Sheeba Aji, a teacher at Chinnakkanal Lower Primary School, shared her frustration with the current travel conditions. Typically, she could reach the school from Devikulam in just 20 minutes via Gap Road. “Now, I must travel through Munnar- Anachal- Kunchithanni- Bison Valley- Muttukad and Periyakanal, taking nearly four hours in multiple buses and other vehicles. Most days, I reach school around 11 a.m. and get home around 8 p.m.,” she says.
Widening of the Munnar-Bodimettu stretch of the highway got under way in 2017, but the project made slow progress with rockfalls occurring since 2019. The area has experienced nearly 20 significant and minor landslips, resulting in the loss of two lives and extensive damage to farmland along the stretch. In October 2019, a landslide on the road, which was still under repair, led to the disappearance of two Tamil youths, Udayan, 19, from Dindigul, and Kalaiarasan, 21, from Krishnagiri. While Udayan’s body was recovered from a 200-foot-deep gorge, Kalaiarasan remains missing.
A recent landslide on the Gap road stretch of the Munnar-Bodimettu Highway. | Photo Credit: JOMON PAMPAVALLEY
Traffic along the Gap Road stretch was suspended for about six months following a major landslip on June 17, 2020. Another landslip on the night of August 6, 2020, on the same stretch, caused large-scale damage to farmlands. In the two landslips, vast areas of farmland downhill were destroyed. A 200-metre stretch of the road collapsed in the landslips.
In 2021, the then Devikulam Subcollector S. Premkrishnan submitted a report to the Revenue Principal Secretary attributing the condition of the road to the “unscientific road widening work” undertaken by the contractor and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials. The report called for an investigation into the alleged lapses that led to the series of landslips affecting the region.
The report emphasised the challenging conditions of the road, which ascends to an elevation of 5,000 feet. It noted that Gap Road was originally constructed by the British as a four-metre path without disturbing rocks and the hills. There were no previous reports of landslips or mudslides in the area. The report recommended that before carrying out repairs along the new stretch, the government should ensure that the NHAI had a comprehensive plan and a dedicated agency should oversee the work. Since the road widening was undertaken by the NHAI, more than 15 landslips had occurred on the stretch, according to the report.
Additionally, the report called for an investigation into quarrying activities. It highlighted that unscientific and largescale mining as part of the road work had caused severe environmental damage, resulting in irreversible loss to the region’s ecology.
However, the report’s recommendation that the contractor should be fined ₹4.52 crore for allegedly illegally mining some 2.5 lakh cubic ft of rock from the Gap Road stretch was set aside by the then District Collector H. Dineshan. The Collector’s fresh report to the government recommended collecting the market rate of the extracted rock as fine from the contractor.
In January 2023, Seema Joseph, Udumbanchola tahsildar, ordered that the subcontractor company Green Worth Infrastructure Pvt Ltd pay over ₹6 crore as the value of the extracted rock besides penalty for allegedly illegally mining rock from government land along Gap Road. But the company moved the High Court, which stayed the proceedings. Ms. Joseph says the case is still in the court.
V. Sunil Kumar, Idukki district geologist, maintains that rockfalls along the stretch are highly likely to continue during the monsoons. “The rocks in this area were previously covered with soil, but the construction caused soil erosion during heavy rainfall. The problem will persist until all the unstable rocks have fallen,” he says.
The Gap road stretch of the Munnar-Bodimettu Highway before the road widening works. | Photo Credit: JOMON PAMPAVALLEY
Hareesh Vasudevan, lawyer and environmental activist, also finds fault with the construction of the road as causing frequent landslips and rockfalls. “The recurring rockfalls each year are a direct result of faulty road construction methods. The government should bring to book those responsible for the flawed road-widening work. But it seems to be evading its responsibility. What’s unfolding on Gap Road is a man-made disaster,” he says.
Selvam, a cab driver from Poopara, about 14 km from Gap Road, is frustrated about frequent road closures, which he says have significantly increased the travel time between Poopara and Munnar. “We need to collect additional money from passengers for the trip since we are forced to take a circuitous route,” he says.
Devikulam Subcollector V.M. Jayakrishnan cites frequent landslips along Gap Road as the reason for the district administration preventing traffic along the route. “For the safety of passengers, we have repeatedly banned traffic along the road. We are aware of the ongoing issues caused by these restrictions and are actively working on a high-level study to resolve the situation,” he says.
Sajin Kumar K.S., Assistant Professor of geology at the University of Kerala, provides a rare insight into the rock failure along the stretch. “The persistent rock failures are due to the alignment of the rock’s dip and the topographical slope, both of which incline in the same direction. This makes the rocks more susceptible to failure, particularly during the monsoon season when water infiltrates along the weathered weak planes like foliation. This type of landslip is called rockfall, which is distinct from the typical landslips seen in Kerala, termed debris flow. If the inclination of the rocks and road were in opposite directions, there would not be any landslip. Since both are aligned in the same direction, managing rock quality and implementing appropriate rock management procedures are essential,” Kumar says.
Chinnakkanal, a key tourism destination about 22 km from Munnar, has been nearly isolated due to the repeated landslips on Gap Road. Joy George, district vice-president of the Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society and Chinnakkanal destination convener, says the area relies heavily on Munnar for tourist access and sightseeing. “During the road construction, we had requested a parallel route connecting Munnar but NHAI officials ignored this suggestion. We are now urging the government to build a parallel road from Powerhouse to Munnar,” he says.
This is a suggestion that hasn’t gone down well with environmentalists. Environmental campaigner M.N. Jayachandran believes that further attempts to widen the road stretch will exacerbate the issue of landslips and rockfalls. He notes that the rock structure along the road stretch is highly unstable, as evidenced by the frequent rockfalls. Any further attempt to destabilise the rock structure can lead to heavy boulders rolling down and causing loss of life and property.
Several environmentalists had previously highlighted the issue of the unstable rock structure in the area. Jayachandran suggests that the authorities should take scientific measures to address the issue of rockfalls, such as rock bolting and boulder netting using metal nets to cover the rocks located on the sides, along with other mitigation measures.
Meanwhile, several resorts have recently sprung up on the downside of Gap Road, aiming to capitalise on the view of the valley offered from the verdant hillside.
In Munnar too tourism stakeholders are up in arms, pointing to the impact travel bans have had on the industry. “Gap Road is a crucial route connecting Munnar with various locations. The travel bans have led to a significant decline in tourist arrivals, with many choosing to avoid Munnar altogether,” says G. Sojan, coordinator of the My Munnar Movement, which promotes tourism and related activities.
A revenue official reiterates that before the road-widening project began, the area had not witnessed any landslips or rockfalls. “When Munnar experienced numerous landslips and mudslides during the great flood of 2018, Gap Road remained unaffected. However, after large-scale mining began in 2019, the area saw a series of landslips and rockfalls. The road-widening efforts transformed the area into a rock quarry over its 1.5-km stretch, leading to disaster,” says the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A report from the Idukki unit of the State Pollution Control Board to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2022 highlighted the environmental damage caused by illegal mining along the Gap Road stretch. The report estimated the damage at over ₹91 crore. It also noted that the road-widening involved blasting over approximately 2.5 km, with the road width often exceeding the planned 7.5 metres from the centre in many areas.
When queried, Rex Felix, Aassistant Executive Engineer at NHAI, says rockfall incidents were being reported on various roads nationwide. “An expert team appointed by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has already conducted a study on this issue and is working to find a proper solution to the recurring rockfalls on Gap Road,” he says.
But the problem is feared to linger for the foreseeable future. “Normally, any road construction is aimed at ensuring smooth and easy travel. But Gap Road is preventing travel,” says Fr. Francis Kampolathuparampil, Director of the Mist Munnar Integral Social Service Society.
The NHAI started clearing debris from the landslip site on August 7 at the instruction of the district administration, but the road reopening will depend on the weather conditions.
