Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Inadequacy of road infrastructure exposed

— Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar

SEA OF HUMANITY: Devotees throng the MG road in the city as they return after offering Pongala at the Attukal temple on Friday evening.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The inadequacy of road infrastructure facilities in the capital coupled with poor traffic and crowd management resulted in massive traffic snarls for hours on Friday with the city witnessing a record influx of devotees for the annual Attukal pongala.

All the roads in an eight-km radius from the temple were jammed from the wee hours of Friday. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded for hours in many stretches, especially on the Chakka-Thiruvallom stretch of the NH 47 Kazhakuttom-Inchivila bypass.

Traffic snarls were witnessed along the bypass around 4 a.m. and it was bumper to bumper ride from Chakka.

The breakdown of a bus belonging to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) near Eenchakkal aggravated the problem as the authorities could not tow it away.

Thousands of vehicles arrived into the city from all over the district and adjoining districts from Thursday night.

The devotees from far-flung areas arrived in stage carriers and their parking on the roadside led to problems for the police and other motorists.

Even though the traffic police had provided parking lots along the Chakka-Thiruvallom stretch of the bypass, Killipalam bund road and Swathi Tirunal Music College for vehicles bringing the devotees, the instructions were defied. Vehicles were parked near the RR Lamp, Mascot junction, Martyr’s Column, War Memorial, Asan Square and other stretches violating the instructions.

The setting up of hearths in isolated areas also posed problems to the police and temple authorities. Hearths were placed in front of Park View, the headquarters of Kerala Tourism, located next to the Corporation Buildings. There was no continuity in setting up the hearths.

Over 100 hearths were set up at Chakka along the bypass while the hearths were continuous only up to the gate of Ananthapuri hospital.

The situation got worsened once the devotees started their return journey at 3 p.m.

As the police personnel watched helplessly, the traffic snarl extended throughout the city.

The lack of coordination, haphazard parking of vehicles on the main roads and by-lanes and keeping hearths on traffic islands as seen in Enchakkal and kerb compounded the problems.

The roads leading to Uppidamoodu bridge from Overbridge, Vanchiyoor, Ayurveda College, Sreekanteswaram, Kaithamukku, Vellayambalam, Keltron junction, Chakka, Eenchakkal, Pettah, Bakery Junction, Martyr’s Column, PMG Junction and Asan Square, Maruthurkadavu, Kamaleswaram and Ambalathara were blocked as the police and volunteers watched helplessly.

At many junctions, volunteers were engaged in heated arguments with motorists who were forced to take circuitous routes, cordoned off whole stretches of roads by tying nylon ropes and putting up barricades.

The lack of traffic policemen to clear the snarl was also exposed. The bulk of the traffic police was posted along the main road, leaving with little manpower to clear snarls along link roads.

With the number of devotees arriving for the pongala going up every year, it has been pointed out that setting up hearths should be restricted to a particular area for better crowd and traffic management.

Transport planners say a ring road or a parallel road to the M.G. Road would have come in handy in such situations or in medical emergencies.

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