Finally, traffic lights blink to life at Thevara Junction

Now on, motorists need not have to be at the mercy of the traffic police to get their way past at Thevara Junction, one of the busiest spots in the city.
Assistant Commissioner Nazeer M A distributing sweets after inaugurating the new automated traffic signal system at Thevara Junction in Kochi on Thursday | Melton Antony
Assistant Commissioner Nazeer M A distributing sweets after inaugurating the new automated traffic signal system at Thevara Junction in Kochi on Thursday | Melton Antony

KOCHI: Now on, motorists need not have to be at the mercy of the traffic police to get their way past at Thevara Junction, one of the busiest spots in the city. After repeated pleas, the Police Department finally made the automatic traffic signal system at the junction functional on Thursday. 

Though the Police Department completed the installation of the automatic traffic signal system at the junction more than a month ago, no further effort was taken to make it functional. 

In response to the Express report dated May 30, ‘Signal system yet to function at Thevara Jn’, the department initiated steps to speed up the procedures.

“With this, the manual traffic controlling will be stopped on this stretch. As it’s a ‘T’ junction, the traffic signal is vital in the area. This will ease the traffic congestion during the peak hours,” said Nazeer M A, Assistant Commissioner, Traffic West, who inaugurated the project. 

A grab of the report that appeared in Express on May 30
A grab of the report that appeared in Express on May 30


On an average, around 100 vehicles pass through the Thevara Junction every minute. This often resulted in traffic chaos and snarl-ups, which commuters attributed to the “unscientific traffic control”. The situation forced the motorists to take the Willingdon Island-Kundannoor route to avoid traffic congestion.


“At present, the signalling system will be functional on automatic mode. But, the traffic movement from West Kochi to the city has to be regulated as the traffic flow from this part is heavy in the morning. So, a slight adjustment needs to be made in the signalling system so as to provide additional time on this route during peak hours. This strategy will be followed during rush hours in the evening too. This will be finalised within a week,” said Nazeer, who took the initiative to install the traffic signal by mobilising funds through the CSR schemes for corporate houses. 

The department is also planning to install traffic signal at Thoppumpady Junction. 

“We are not using any government funds for installing traffic signals. Instead, we bank on CSR funds of some companies for this project,” he said.

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