The Hindu : Kerala News : Drive at your peril on Edapally-Vytilla bypass

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Friday, Jun 30, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Drive at your peril on Edapally-Vytilla bypass

Staff Reporter

Corporation, police and district administration not co-operating, says NHAI Corporation, police and district administration not co-operating, says NHAI

POOL ON THE ROAD: Service roads along the Edapally-Vytilla bypass have become unmotorable during rainy season. - Photo: VipinChandran

KOCHI: The four-lane NH bypass connecting Edapally and Vytilla has been in a state of disrepair for long.

But neither the National Highways' Authority of India (which owns the road) nor the Public Works Department (NH), which maintains it, has taken any step to ensure hassle-free movement of vehicles.

The worst maintained portion of the stretch is the Palarivattom bypass junction.

Huge potholes dot the western side of the road. They cause accidents as oncoming motorists are caught unawares and the flow of traffic too is slowed down.

Inadequate width of the reserve lanes and free-left turns at Palarivattom and Vytilla junctions too have been holding up traffic. During peak hours, vehicles have to wait for 10 to 15 minutes for crossing Palarivattom junction. Potholes dot the bypass at many points in Vytilla as well.

Project director of the NHAI Srinivasulu Naidu said that over a month back Rs.28 lakhs was handed over to the PWD(NH) to repair the road and widen the four free-left turns at the Palarivattom bypass junction.

"The rain must have affected the work. The irregular median alignment at the junction too will be corrected. Next in line will be the widening of the free-left turn from Thripunithura at Vytilla junction," he said. There is no answer to why the repair and widening works were not done during the summer months.

Absence of tarred roads

A noticeable fact in the six-kilometre Edapally-Vytilla stretch is the absence of proper tarred roads connecting the bypass with service and side roads. Motorists have to try their luck, manoeuvring their vehicles through any of the mud patches, which have been laid by blocking the drains.

Mr. Naidu said that agencies like the Corporation of Cochin, the police and the district administration had not been of any help in taking action against people who filled up drains in the bypass to make direct access to their businesses and apartment complexes.

"We cannot do anything without the help of civic and enforcement agencies. Service roads will become mud roads if the situation continues," he said.

Accidents have become common at U-turns in the bypass because of the overgrowth of plants. Bougainvilleas and grass affect visibility at the turnings. Neither the NHAI nor the PWD(NH) has done anything to pull out the plants.

Signboards warning of U-turns have been shadowed by advertisement boards put up by companies.

The lack of zebra crossings has been taking its toll, with pedestrians caught in between fast-moving vehicles.

Expansion joints protrude from one portion of the railway overbridge at Vytilla, making motoring difficult.

Mr. Naidu said that the NHAI would take over maintenance work of the stretch from the PWD(NH) once the four-laning of the Vytilla-Aroor stretch was over.

The bumpy ride over the Vytilla bridge could be overcome only if skilled workers were employed to level the surface of the road and joints.

On the pathetic condition of the Kumbalam-Aroor bridge (built by the Kerala State Construction Corporation), he said that the bridge had got many defects in construction.

The bottom layer had not been laid well. The whole of the carriageway had to be dug up and re-laid. The Panangad bridge too had many defects, he added.

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