Soil erosion: Akkulam Road caves in at many places

Thiruvananthapuram: Incessant rain has seriously damaged the road opposite to the Officer’s Mess of Southern Air Command, Akkulam, leading to Sreekaryam via Pulayanarkotta Junction. Continuing soil erosion is fast making this road unusable as the road is caved in at many places.
Hundreds of vehicles, including school buses taking students to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Akkulam, and Loyola School, Sreekaryam, travel through this road every day. Considering the danger, authorities have placed traffic cones and demarcated areas where soil erosion is taking place. As rains continue, more soil erosion is expected in the region in the coming days.

At one part of the damaged road, a drainage pipe is seen exposed. The exposed drainage pipe suggests that the recent addition of the underground pipe acted as the trigger for the soil giving away when it rained.

“We noticed the first signs of soil erosion two months ago during a rainy day. The soil gave away and came down. People notified about the councillor about the incident and many government officials came to assess the situation. They installed traffic cones to alert the drivers” said Thankamani P, a resident of the area. Arun, a regular commuter, said, “The road is okay for light and medium vehicles. But, heavy vehicles like buses taking the road will not be safe”.

No accidents have been reported so far but the installation of traffic cones means that the two-lane road becomes a single lane one around the erosion site, which has resulted in regular traffic snarls in the stretch.