Traffic woes at Thrikkakara push residents to protest

Fed up with the ever-worsening traffic snarls and increasing accidents along the Thrikkakara stretch of Seaport-Airport Road, residents of the municipality under the Thrikkakara Residents’ Association Apex Council (TRAAC) have launched a campaign to spur the authorities into action.

“We are prepared for a long-drawn-out protest campaign to find a solution to a persisting problem, which has claimed several lives over the years and is fast giving Thrikkakara the dubious status of being an accident hub, besides being an IT and industrial hub. In the second phase, we plan to stop tanker lorries and big containers from using the road during day time,” said TRAAC president M.S. Anilkumar.

TRAAC has put forward the following demands — widening of Bharat Mata College - Irumpanam stretch of Seaport-Airport Road into four lane; removal of all encroachments to ease traffic in all four directions within one-km radius of Collectorate Junction, and addressing the long-standing demand for a Thrikkakara bypass to ease traffic congestion in the area.

“Widening of the Thrikkakara stretch of Seaport-Airport Road needs around ₹50 crore, which the three oil companies (all of which have facilities along Seaport-Airport Road) could jointly raise. Meanwhile, the eviction of roadside vendors by the district administration had run into a wall in the form of protest by the association,” Mr. Anilkumar said.

District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla, however, attributed the stalling of eviction in certain areas to the inappropriate issue of licences to some vendors by the municipality. “They [municipal authorities] should not have issued licences to vendors to operate along the roadside, while they haven’t identified a vending zone for their relocation either. Evicting vendors who possess licence slips could pose a legal problem,” he said.

The Thrikkakara municipality expressed helplessness over resolving the problem on the ground that the road was being maintained by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), which, in turn, complained of paucity of funds for road widening ever since toll collection was suspended. With the agency not able to find the estimated ₹190 crore required for the widening of the Bharat Mata - Irumpanam stretch, it is now planning to limit its works to setting right uneven portions of land and road markings.

“A master plan for the development of the road should be prepared through coordinated efforts by the district administration, MLA, municipality, and the agencies concerned. The government should approve the plan and allocate necessary funds considering Thrikkakara as a special case in view of its profile as an IT and industrial hub,” said municipal chairperson K.K. Neenu.

Meanwhile, the traffic police said that they had effected some reforms in the area even as TRAAC had demanded rearrangement of traffic barricades on the Irumpanam - collectorate stretch to make way for the free left turn of city-bound vehicles. “Accommodating a second track needs the available space to be tarred which is beyond the authority of the police,” said K.A. Abdul Salam, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic East.