Kerala   

Daytime road work affects traffic

Kanhangad: Repair work along the National Highway during peak hours is causing traffic snarls disrupting the schedule of road users and vehicle operators.

The repair work on the narrow and busy National Highway 17 after the prolonged monsoon had picked momentum in the last two days.

A bus passenger bound for Kasaragod told The Hindu on Monday that hundreds of vehicles, including trucks and ambulances, were stranded on either side of the Payyanur bridge due to the works.

“I was proceeding to Kasaragod to visit a relative, who is in a hospital. However, the bus took over two-and-a-half hours to cover 74 km from Kannur to Kanhangad,” he said.

Due to the traffic snarls, bus services are skipping most of the bus stations away from the highway seeking cooperation of the passengers to offset the time lost by volunteering to get down on the highway.

Some of the passengers were offered the minimum fare of Rs.4 by the conductor to help them reach the bus stations, he said.

He said the situation could have been averted had the repair work on the highway, which is in dismal condition in Kasaragod district, carried out during night.

The dismal road conditions have only aggravated the travel ordeal of Sabarimala pilgrims, especially those from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Availability of train services during peak hours could have eased pressure on the road.

The heavy rush in most of the trains and lack of adequate ticket counters at stations like Kasaragod and Kanhangad are forcing passengers to wait in serpentine queues to get tickets.

They very often missed the train in the process.

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