The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Bypass stretch turning a deathtrap

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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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Kerala - Kochi

Bypass stretch turning a deathtrap

Staff Reporter

Potholes fill the 16-km Edappally-Aroor stretch; bridges need resurfacing

Photo:Vipin Chandran

ROAD OR DITCH: The pot-holed Edapally-Aroor stretch of the NH 47 bypass. A scene near Chakkaraparambu, where a portion of the highway and service road has caved in.

KOCHI: Not much maintenance work has been carried out on the 16-km-long Edappally-Aroor stretch of the NH bypass.

Road markings and signage are missing on the stretch. The medians, drains and service roads are in pathetic condition and many of the lamp posts (not to speak about the non-functional lights) are in a precarious state, all for want of periodic maintenance.

The six bridges on the stretch, four of which are severely-potholed, need urgent resurfacing. Things get worse every monsoon when unsuspecting motorists fall into the water-filled ditches.

The worst-maintained portion is the Vytilla-Aroor stretch, the four-laning of which has been delayed for over three years. This has resulted in fatal accidents becoming commonplace on the stretch and traffic snarls becoming routine.

Youth killed

Suresh, 25, employed at an automobile-painting shop in Vyttila, was run over by a concrete mixer lorry on Thursday night. This was after he lost control of his bike that fell into a gaping pothole on the highway near the Netoor bridge. He got stuck on an iron hook of the lorry and was run over.

Four-laning

The National Highway Authority of India project director in Kochi, K. Srinivasulu said that four-laning work (which got stalled over two years ago) would resume only by July, for which tenders will be floated by May end. “The three bidders for the first tender quoted very high rates to carry out the balance work.

The sole bidder for the second tender was not sufficiently qualified to carry out the work.”

The Aroor-Vyttila stretch provides the crucial connectivity from Alappuzha to Ernakulam district and has bumper-to-bumper traffic all through the day. The NHAI has not filled the potholes on the stretch, including at Vyttila – the largest junction in the State.

The agency has not handed over funds to resurface the badly-damaged Kundanoor-Thevara bridge, despite the PWD submitting a work estimate for Rs.75 lakh.

Over a dozen two-wheeler riders and pedestrians have been killed in accidents on the badly-maintained roads and bridges on the stretch during the past one year.

This includes the two parallel bridges at Vyttila, which have problematic expansion joints that offer a bumpy ride to motorists.

No proper drains

A PWD official said that though his department was willing to carry out maintenance work, the NHAI takes years to sanction funds.

“The agency has not even handed over funds required for routine-maintenance work. The highway and service roads got damaged since the Authority did not lay proper drains to channelise rain water in many portions.”

Motorists, to gain easy access to U-turns, often enter the highway from service roads through the portion marked for drains.

There is no proper link even from the highway to the service road passing near the Authority’s office at Vyttila junction.

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