New tunnel to help reduce traffic in Kandy

In its efforts to reduce vehicle congestion and the high pollution levels in Kandy City, the Government has obtained Cabinet approval to build a tunnel to avoid the town. 

The proposed tunnel will connect Thennekumbura and Getambe, Minister of Higher Education and Highways and Leader of the House of Parliament Lakshman Kiriella told the Parliament yesterday.

The Minister, rejecting the Joint Opposition Parliament Group Leader UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena’s demand to open the road next to the Temple of the Tooth Relic for vehicles, said: “We would not reopen the road opposite the Dalada Maligawa. The previous Government closed this road without giving an alternative route for the vehicles. The tunnel we are planning will have two intersections.”

“It was a previous UNP Government which allocated land to the Dalada Maligawa. What your Government did was opening bars and liquor shops around the Dalada Maligawa and holding car races around the Dalada Maligawa. Today you are shedding crocodile tears,” Minister Kiriella added. (AH)