Thiruvananthapuram: The city police have decided to install barricades on Kowdiar–Vellayambalam stretch to reign in the menace of speeding that has been leading to frequent accidents.
City police commissioner Balramkumar Upadhyay has taken the decision following the latest accident on the stretch near Manmohan Bungalow on Wednesday night.
The strategically-placed barricades are expected to cut down the speed of the vehicles ahead of the dangerous curve near Manmohan Bungalow on the stretch that has become an accident-prone zone.
A car had crashed into the electric pole that stood on the median at the junction near Manmohan Bungalow on this stretch on Wednesday around 9.30pm. Five youths, who were inside the car, had sustained injuries. Among them, the condition of a 17-year-old youth, Amodh, is reported to be serious as he sustained injuries on the head. It is alleged that the car was racing with another motorcycle when it lost control and met with the accident.
“The decision is sure to cause much inconvenience to motorists, but we have no choice left when motorists misuse the freedom and engage in dangerous racing on the road,” said Upadhyay. Wednesday night’s accident was the third one on the junction near Manmohan Bungalow this month. Two weeks ago, two cars had rammed the electric pole on the median on the same spot in a span of 12 hours. The accidents occurred on February 10 and 11 respectively.
Meanwhile, as usual, the police have not been able to find out the circumstances that led to the accident as the surveillance cameras installed at the junction were not functioning. This revelation contradicts the claim by the police that all cameras in the city surveillance network were repaired in October last year ahead of the by-election in Vattiyoorkavu constituency.
The repair works were initiated following strong criticism after the police failed to secure any visual evidence of the movement of the car allegedly driven by IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman causing an accident that claimed the life of journalist K M Basheer in August last year.
Upadhyay said that it was indeed true that the police had carried out maintenance works of the cameras. But it was done through private agencies and not through Keltron. Some of the cameras failed to function as they were imported and spare parts were not available here.
“The government is set to replace the existing surveillance network with a new and improved one under the Smart City project. The works in this regard are expected to commence soon. Hence the department does not wish to spend more money on repairing the old cameras,” said the city police commissioner.
The city police have around 240 cameras in its surveillance network. At present not even half the cameras are functional.
City police commissioner Balramkumar Upadhyay has taken the decision following the latest accident on the stretch near Manmohan Bungalow on Wednesday night.
The strategically-placed barricades are expected to cut down the speed of the vehicles ahead of the dangerous curve near Manmohan Bungalow on the stretch that has become an accident-prone zone.
A car had crashed into the electric pole that stood on the median at the junction near Manmohan Bungalow on this stretch on Wednesday around 9.30pm. Five youths, who were inside the car, had sustained injuries. Among them, the condition of a 17-year-old youth, Amodh, is reported to be serious as he sustained injuries on the head. It is alleged that the car was racing with another motorcycle when it lost control and met with the accident.
“The decision is sure to cause much inconvenience to motorists, but we have no choice left when motorists misuse the freedom and engage in dangerous racing on the road,” said Upadhyay. Wednesday night’s accident was the third one on the junction near Manmohan Bungalow this month. Two weeks ago, two cars had rammed the electric pole on the median on the same spot in a span of 12 hours. The accidents occurred on February 10 and 11 respectively.
Meanwhile, as usual, the police have not been able to find out the circumstances that led to the accident as the surveillance cameras installed at the junction were not functioning. This revelation contradicts the claim by the police that all cameras in the city surveillance network were repaired in October last year ahead of the by-election in Vattiyoorkavu constituency.
The repair works were initiated following strong criticism after the police failed to secure any visual evidence of the movement of the car allegedly driven by IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman causing an accident that claimed the life of journalist K M Basheer in August last year.
Upadhyay said that it was indeed true that the police had carried out maintenance works of the cameras. But it was done through private agencies and not through Keltron. Some of the cameras failed to function as they were imported and spare parts were not available here.
“The government is set to replace the existing surveillance network with a new and improved one under the Smart City project. The works in this regard are expected to commence soon. Hence the department does not wish to spend more money on repairing the old cameras,” said the city police commissioner.
The city police have around 240 cameras in its surveillance network. At present not even half the cameras are functional.
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