The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Private bus diversion to resume today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Private bus diversion to resume today

By Our Staff Reporter

Empty tar barrels put up at the junction near St. Francis Church along the Kaloor-Kadavanthra road to make vehicles coming from Kaloor take a deviation. Photo: Vipin Chandran

KOCHI, APRIL 12. The diversion of long-distance private buses through the Kaloor-Kadavanthra road will resume from Wednesday. Some buses had run along this stretch on April 4.

The City Police Commissioner, Dinendra Kashyap, said that humps had been constructed on the approach roads that lead to the main road in Kathrikadavu.

The direct entry of vehicles coming from Kaloor to St. Francis Church has been blocked to prevent accidents. Traffic signboards had been put up at the three bus stops along the stretch, he said.

"The police and Motor Vehicles Department personnel will be posted at all junctions in the stretch from 9 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. until electronic signal lights come up. Vehicles, which are parked in front of the supermarket in Kadavanthra and in other junctions, will be towed away. I have informed the District Collector that the road is ready for bus traffic," he said.

The District Collector, A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, said that he and Mr. Kashyap would take a drive through the stretch on Wednesday to ensure that everything was in place. The police will be posted at Kadavanthra Junction to streamline traffic. As of now, there was no proposal to divert some buses through GCDA junction, he said.

The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) chairman, Antony Isaac, said the agency was willing to carry out necessary work in the stretch if the Traffic Police requested.

A few companies had come forward to sponsor maintenance of the footpaths, Mr. Isaac said.

With buses being diverted, there is need to remove encroachers and hawkers from the footpath and carriageway. Officials said that steps were being taken for this.

The temporary compound wall of a house was protrudes into the road on the Kaloor side of the road, they said.

Traffic congestion

The diversion is aimed at reducing traffic congestion on the city's arterial roads and on Ernakulam North and South overbridges. The buses will thus be able to exit the city, without crossing the bridges.

The Traffic Police had made a proposal to acquire a portion of the footpath in Kaloor, to be added to the carriageway. This was aimed at preventing congestion in Kaloor, once the buses start operating through the route. Another plan was to shift the bus stop on Sahodaran Ayyappan Road in Kadavanthra to a place that is at least 40 m. from the junction.

The electronic traffic signal system at Kadavanthra, installed over a year back, is yet to start functioning. The diversion was planned as soon as the road got ready four months ago. But the civic bodies delayed in putting up infrastructure. There was also pressure from some groups against the diversion. The GCDA took six years to complete the work on the three-km road.

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