KOCHI: The promises were aplenty. Plans were made, assurances given and deadlines set. But seven months later, Broadway continues to choke, once again proving that it is all just words and no actions. Even Mayor Soumini Jain who vouched - days after assuming the office - to make the iconic trading street of Kochi into a 'friendly walking plaza' seems to have forgotten about it.
"We were caught up with some other projects," said the Mayor when Express contacted her for the updates on the Broadway renovation projects.
Not a single step
When Express ran a series seven months back on how the one-kilometre Broadway stretch was suffering from illegal parking, the Mayor had said that the issue will be resolved soon. She assured us that talks will be held with the Kerala Tourism Department seeking its land near the Broadway for exclusive parking of vehicles coming to the street. But, not a single step has been taken so far.
The Tourism Department officials have no clue about the statement. "We happened to read the Mayor's statement from the newspaper but so far neither the Corporation nor the Secretary have approached the Tourism Department in this regard. As of now, we cannot say anything. Let them approach us and then we will think about holding a discussion," said a top official of Tourism Department.
Promises galore
Provision for multi-level parking was another assurance made by the Mayor. The project was planned as part of the Central Government-funded Smart City project. However, there is no special plan included in the Smart City project to built multi-level parking exclusively for Broadway.
"The Corporation had a plan to install CCTV cameras along the Broadway stretch to monitor illegal parking. If they could do the same for curbing waste menace, they could have done the same for parking too. Actually, most vehicles parked here are not shoppers," said K J Antony, Opposition Leader, Corporation.
The Mayor had also promised the council to hold a discussion with the stakeholders, including shop owners, street vendors, Traffic Police and the Motor Vehicles Department but it is yet to happen.
"The renovation will happen only after rehabilitating the street vendors. We are ready to provide the space, but no talks have been initiated so far," said V A Mohammed Ashraf, president, Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce.