KOCHI: Travelling through the Vyttila- Edappally bypass will soon be a sight for the sore eye with the authorities restarting the pruning and maintenance of the plants on the median along the stretch. The project which envisaged taking care of the flowering plants was on a standstill following a tiff between the Police and the Kochi Bypass Beautification Society (KBBS).The bypass, an important segment of the National Highway 66, boasted of a unique stretch of well-designed medians and a beautiful canopy of flowering plants. However, after the beautification got stalled, the plants had died with weeds taking over their place.
Kochi Bypass Beautification Society, a CSSR-backed initiative comprising of major stakeholders who have their establishments in the area, had been taking care of the plants until they were allegedly threatened by political parties and police. The project, the brainchild of the Kochi Corporation and former Mayor Tony Chammany, was launched in 2015.
“The central median was beautified at a cost of Rs 1 crore by the KBBS which had planted 20,000 flowers of oleander and alamander varieties at the 4.6 km stretch. It was a unique model and well-maintained on a daily basis by the major stakeholders. However, after some time, the KBBS pointed out the police was hindering the maintenance work by constantly erecting barricades to prevent pedestrians from crossing the road. This was putting a dent on their beautification plans,” said Kochi Corporation Standing Works chairperson Shiny Mathew.
The KBBS also alleged frequent harassment by political parties and other agencies who used to put up posters and advertisements on the median.“Though we had held talks with the various stakeholders, their enthusiasm to maintain the stretch had waned off. We want to change that because the KBBS had done a very good in beautifying the median. We plan to hold a meeting with the persons concerned next week,” said Shiny.
Meanwhile, the KBBS has already started pruning the plants from Saturday. They hope to complete the work in the coming days. “We have spoken to the Kochi Mayor and Traffic Police regarding the pruning work. It will take some time as the weeds have grown. Also, the weeds need to be disposed of in huge vehicles for which we need the support of the Kochi Corporation,” said M E Mohammed, president of KBBS. He added that the waterbeds need to be changed since the flowers are now three years old.
Edappally Traffic SI Abdul Saleem said the police had set up barricades last year because the frequency of accidents had increased. “We felt the beautified stretch was posing danger to life and security which is why we decided to set up the barricades on the median. However, we have reached an agreement with the KBBS and have resolved issues with them,” Abdul said.