Three months have passed since the construction of the culvert over Perandoor Canal near the new Kaloor metro station was stalled midway.
The casualty: Rising number of accidents in the area and the sudden traffic snarl-ups at night.
The problem: The stretch from Lisie Hospital junction to Kaloor forks into two - one going straight as an elevated single-lane over the new culvert, and the other situated beside, a few notches down.The motorists unfamiliar with the stretch are forced to take a sharp turn as the forking is visibly only at the last minute, triggering chaos and leading to accidents.
“Daily, several unwary two-wheelers, especially women, meet with accidents while trying to negotiate the vehicle towards the main road after entering the approach road by mistake.
Despite repeated incidents, the authorities have not yet taken any action,” said Darmarajan, who runs a shop near the spot. “Chances for accidents are high, particularly at night, as there is no streetlight here,” said another shopkeeper said.
City Road Scheme
The culvert project on the Banerjee Road comes under the PWD’s Kochi City Road Scheme.
Denny John, PWD executive engineer, said the construction was temporarily stopped as the Kerala Water Authority and KSEB had to complete their work, before continuing with the culvert construction. He said the fund in this regard was to be allotted by the Kochi Corporation. “We are told the Corporation has not yet provided the funds for the work, and hence the delay,” he said.
He said the commuters will have to bear with the situation at least for a few more months as the water pipes laid underneath the culvert were yet to be replaced. However, he promised adequate measures would be taken immediately to fix the faults with the approach road.
Nibu Abraham, a civil engineer, said this was a clear negligence on the part of the authorities. “Even if the PWD had to temporarily halt the construction, leaving the culvert for future expansion, they should not have left the approach section in such a condition,” Nibu Abraham said.
Fund allotment
Hibi Eden MLA said the utility shifting on the stretch - which will cost around D50 lakh - is delaying the culvert work. “The underground cables need to be brought from France, for which an amount of D25 lakh has to be spent. In a joint meeting convened last month, the Corporation had agreed to deposit the amount with the KSEB, KWA and PWD. However, that got delayed. As the UG cable has to be imported from France, it will cause a further delay of over a month,” he said.