Overview
- The Supreme Court, ruling Monday, dismissed the plea that sought to scrap the tunnel’s environmental clearance.
- Chief Justice Surya Kant said the tunnel is a project of national importance that could become a lifeline for people in Kerala.
- The bench left the Kerala High Court’s December 2025 decision undisturbed and said any breach of conditions can be taken to the National Green Tribunal.
- Expert panels approved an 8.7 km twin-tube road tunnel with strict safeguards to ease travel by bypassing the clogged Thamarassery Ghat road.
- Petitioners warned of landslide, wildlife, and water risks in the fragile Western Ghats, which saw a 2024 slide that killed 420 people and left 118 missing.