Even as road accidents continue unabated in Kottayam, a joint team of officials on Tuesday visited the 10 ‘high risk accident black spots’ on roads in the district to assess the ground condition and recommend corrective action.
The team comprises officers of the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), Motor Vehicles Department, Police and the Public Works Department.
Flaws
During the examination, the officials inspected the black spots, starting from the Lalam bridge junction in Pala to Thottuva and Thuruthy junctions on Main Central Road and identified several flaws in road design and other factors.
Of the 10 black spots identified in the district, five of them are on Main Central Road.
While Kuravilanagadu accounted for three black spots, Ettumanur and Changanassery followed with two each.
According to officials, each of the black spots were identified based on the occurrence of five or more fatal or 10 grievous accidents between 2016 and 2018.
Commenting on the initiative, Tojo M. Thomas, Regional Transport Officer (Enforcement), said the problems highlighted included road banks, steep gradients, sharp turns, and blind spots. Similarly, the absence of road accessories, including signages, road markings, rumbling strips and blinker signals, also contribute to the accidents.
Detailed report
“NATPAC will prepare a detailed report regarding each of these locations by taking into account our suggestions and submit it for consideration of the Kerala Road Safety Authority. The agency, in turn, will give directions to the agencies concerned with regard to the steps for rectifying these black spots,” he said.
A decision to survey these locations was made during a meeting convened by the Principal Secretary of Transport recently. The inspection on Tuesday will be followed by a detailed survey to identify the precautionary measures to be initiated for avoiding the rising number of accidents.
Earlier last month, District Collector P.K. Sudheer Babu sent a letter to the NATPAC director seeking its assistance in reviewing the reasons behind the accidents and to suggest directions to prevent causalties on roads. Based on this, the agency conducted a primary survey at locations where accidents are concentrated.
As per estimates, the roads of Kottayam have claimed over 30 lives in the first two months of 2020.