Thiruvananthapuram: The road to Ponmudi Hill Station, which was closed for tourists who quoted safety concerns over damage suffered when heavy rains, had been reopened before maintenance work was carried out.
Authorities have begun to allow tourists to visit the top protection from Hill Station from Thursday.
It was in the first week of June that the road suffered damage after continuous rain.
The road between the 11 and 12 hairpin curves suffered damage at some point after the earth below was eroded.
This produces depression formed on the road surface.
Rainwater continues to seep through a gap formed by soil erosion every time it rains, raises the risk of relenceance on the road.
In addition, the obstacle of crashes in the 18 hairpin curve has also collapsed during the rain.
The district government acts fast and prohibits the entry of tourists to the hill station to avoid potential tragedy.
But, it was only a week ago that the Department of Public Works (PWD) received administrative sanctions from the government to float tenders to carry out maintenance work.
The police said that even though the road to the hill station was opened again, this entry was given in strict conditions.
“There are two parameters that must be fulfilled to get into the sanctuary .
He said that the Ministry of Forestry officials will conduct an examination in this case at their checkpoint at the Kallar at the foot of the hill range.
DSP also said that vehicle movements will also be arranged using traffic cones.
In places where roads are damaged, vehicle movements are permitted through only one lane, which is not affected.
Overcoming security issues, DSP said that even though tourist vehicles were not permitted in, the KSRTC bus still conducted services to Ponmudi during this period because there were people who lived there.
So far, the rules applied are good.
When contacted, the PWD officials concerned said that they were expected to start work within a week.
“Now after administrative sanctions have been received, the procedure such as inviting a tender contract and allocating will be finished quickly,” said an official PWD.