Crossing busy roads will no longer be a hurdle for students as roads across the state will soon have student-friendly pelican crossings.
According to sources with the Police Department, it is moving forward with the project to make roads safe for students. “Pelican crossing will be set up at the junctions near the schools across the state. As per the plan, a signal light will be placed at the junctions, which can be controlled using a switch installed near the road. Students can use the switch whenever they need to cross the road. When students press the switch, the red signal will stop the vehicular movement and a green signal will be lit up, indicating that the students can cross the road through the zebra lines. We have also requested the Public Works Department to mark zebra lines at selected junctions for pelican crossing,” the sources said.
“In the first phase, the project will be implemented in seven districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kasaragod and Ernakulam.
The sources further said that though the crossing can be used by all kinds of people, the main aim of the system is to extend help to students and avoid accidents.
“Currently, school authorities are assigning students police cadets (SPC) to help students cross roads. With the implementation of the new system, students don’t have to depend on others to cross the roads. Also, the system will be active after every three minutes of the previous use. There will also be a traffic police to monitor the usage of the system,” he said.
They said that the signals, which will be installed at the junctions for the pelican crossing will function using solar power. “The project is in its final stage and the system will be made accessible for students within two weeks. Also, if the first phase is successful, the project will be extended to other districts also,” they added.