Traffic woes continue on Aroor-Thuravoor stretch

Protests are brewing over the traffic chaos on the Aroor-Thuravoor stretch of National Highway (NH) 66 caused by the construction of a 12.75-km elevated highway.

Though decisions have been made to divert traffic through alternative routes, the situation has not improved. At times, especially during the morning and evening rush hours, vehicles take up to one-and-a-half hours to cover the stretch.

During the installation of girders, traffic on both sides is often completely blocked. Commuters have accused the authorities of failing to take effective measures to ease congestion.

Meanwhile, in a bid to ease traffic woes on the stretch, a high-level meeting attended by K.C. Venugopal, MP, District Collector Alex Varghese, H. Salam, MLA and officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recently decided to divert heavy vehicles from Alappuzha to Ernakulam via the AC and MC roads.

Officials said that heavy vehicles bound for Alappuzha from Ernakulam had already been diverted via the MC road.

Mr. Venugopal raised concerns over frequent and serious safety lapses during construction. While urging the NHAI to strengthen safety precautions and monitoring mechanisms, he demanded that officials directly oversee construction activities.

The meeting decided to lay an 8.4 km pipeline for the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) along the Aroor–Thuravoor road stretch. The MP called for immediate steps to resolve issues delaying the relocation of KWA pipelines in Ambalappuzha, Punnapra, Krishnapuram, Haripad, and Cherthala.

He urged the NHAI to take steps to construct underpasses at Payalkulangara, S.N. Kavala, Puthentheruvu, Puthenchanda, and Narakathara junction, and to construct foot overbridges at Ponnamveli and Mathilakam.

Mr. Venugopal pointed out that the current design of the underpass in front of the Government Medical College Hospital at Vandanam was too narrow to accommodate large vehicles. He said that NHAI officials have assured that necessary design changes would be made to ensure smooth traffic flow.