Kerala - Kochi   

Need for multi-pronged steps to tackle traffic woes

KOCHI: Defective planning and lack of foresight in building roads and bridges are likely to hinder the city’s growth.

Many more vehicles will ply the traffic choked roads once the Smart City project and Vallarpadam container terminal project are commissioned.

The development plans for Kochi require a multi-pronged approach comprising urgent widening of roads, bridges and junctions, building new roads and bridges, development of a suburban rail network and people-friendly public-transport system, and making optimal use of inland waterways for transporting goods and people. Pay-and-park bays at street corners too are needed to help check the chaos on the busy roads.

Lack of coordination between the government departments has held up projects aimed at streamlining traffic. One such example is the Pullepady overbridge project, the work on which has been delayed by over three years.

Though the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala built the approach spans of the bridge, the Railways are yet to construct its 25-metre portion over the rail track.

The bridge, when completed, will help reduce traffic congestion on the Ernakulam North overbridge. However, the Kochi Corporation is yet to acquire all land needed to connect the road with the arterial M.G. Road.

The bottlenecks posed by the narrow railway overbridges at Ernakulam North and South highlight the city’s failure to set in motion any serious infrastructure development work.

The District Collector, who is also the chairman of the District Road Safety Council and the District Road Transport Authority, had promised to widen the overbridges two years ago, but many encroachments along the sides of the bridges are yet to be removed.

The proposal to connect the Thammanam-Pullepady Road with the Airport-Seaport Road has been in limbo due to the problems involved in the acquisition of land.

The road will connect the city to the proposed Smart City at Kakkanad. Shopkeepers have encroached upon the stretch from Palarivattom to Kakkanad, creating traffic snarls throughout the day. Haphazard parking has added to the woes of road users.

The Corporation has been unable to shift power, telephone and water lines in some areas of the Sahodaran Aiyyappan Road in spite of road widening works that began over a decade ago.

The proposal to build Bund Road, which runs parallel to S.A. Road, has been hanging fire reportedly owing to paucity of funds for land acquisition. Traffic snarls have become routine on S.A. Road.

Mayor Mercy Williams said huge conglomerates setting up shop in the city should pool funds for road development and land acquisition.

“We will soon come up with a city mobility plan. But, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, on which the Corporation is heavily dependant for funds, has accorded lowest priority to road development and maintenance.”

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