Kerala’s Vigilance Department will investigate the construction of the Alappuzha-Changanassery road after PWD Minister PK Basheer questioned the spending of Rs 647 crore on the 25-km stretch and pointed to its performance during flooding in Alappuzha district.
Basheer announced the proposed probe while speaking at the inauguration of the Makkekadavu-Nere Kadavu bridge. He said the investigation followed a complaint submitted by Ambalappuzha MLA G Sudhakaran regarding the road works carried out during the previous LDF government’s tenure.
“A fund of Rs 647 crore for a 25-km-long road? You all should think how that road was constructed with such a big amount,” Basheer said, according to the report. “I want to tell you all that there will be an investigation into it by the state Vigilance Department,” he added.
The road was inaugurated by then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in March this year, shortly before the Assembly election. It was rebuilt as Kerala’s first semi-elevated highway, with the stated objective of ensuring uninterrupted vehicle movement through the Kuttanad region of Alappuzha district, an area vulnerable to heavy flooding.
However, a major stretch of the road remained inundated after floods in August, affecting vehicle movement. The reported flooding has raised questions about whether the reconstructed road delivered the resilience and uninterrupted connectivity expected from a semi-elevated corridor. The available report does not provide details of the flooding’s duration, the exact sections affected, the design standards used or the department’s technical assessment of the road’s performance.
The cost cited by the minister works out to roughly Rs 25.9 crore per kilometre, although the reported figure does not explain the components included in the project expenditure. A full assessment would need to establish whether the amount covered only the road structure or also land-related works, bridges, drainage, flood-protection measures and other associated construction costs. The Vigilance inquiry is expected to examine the spending and the circumstances surrounding the project.
The road’s importance extends beyond its construction cost. The Alappuzha-Changanassery corridor serves the low-lying Kuttanad region, where seasonal flooding can disrupt road access and affect daily travel, freight movement and connections between settlements. A road designed to remain functional during floods therefore carries a public-service obligation beyond ordinary traffic movement.
The minister’s announcement also places the project within a wider accountability question: how infrastructure spending is assessed when a project is justified partly by its ability to withstand local environmental conditions. The report does not state whether the Vigilance Department has formally registered a case, identify the terms of reference for the inquiry or name the officials and contractors who may be examined.
The next steps will depend on the state Vigilance Department’s investigation into the complaint and the road’s construction. The inquiry is expected to clarify how the Rs 647 crore allocation was used and why sections of the semi-elevated route were inundated after the August floods.
