KOCHI: In the last two months, various amenities, including toilet complexes, along the Kochi bypass were either closed or not being properly maintained, making life difficult for motorists on the Edappally-Aroor stretch. Moreover, the blooming flowering plants like tecoma stans, bougainvillea, strelitzia, and crape jasmine that lined the central medians were withering as they had not been trimmed or watered.
The situation came about as the tenure of Kochi Aroor Tollways Pvt Ltd, which had maintained the 17km stretch of the NH 66 bypass for nine years, expired on September 5, and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) failed to appoint another agency in a timely manner.
Now, following complaints, NHAI has appointed an agency for three months, specifically for maintaining the stretch.
“Earlier, agencies such as Kochi Aroor Tollways were entrusted with both maintenance and toll collection. Now, NHAI is directly carrying out toll-collection duty, while an agency has been appointed on a temporary basis for maintenance of the stretch,” a senior NHAI official said.
The official has written to the NHAI headquarters for appointment of a permanent agency.
“The process will take time, and a temporary agency has been appointed for the maintenance activities. It has been instructed to carry out maintenance of flowering plants and toilet complexes,” the official said.
The earlier agency took special care in growing flowering plants along the central medians from Padivattom to Kumbalam toll plaza.
“Besides achieving the primary objective of shielding motorists from the blinding headlights of oncoming traffic at night, the flowering plants add an aesthetic touch. Rain or shine, we used to take care of the plants on a daily basis.
The plants were regularly trimmed to maintain a uniform height of 4.5ft. We had an 18-strong staff for their regular maintenance. Our company met the maintenance cost of the flowering plants,” Sahadevan Nambiar, CEO of Kochi-Aroor Tollways, told TNIE.
Medical, traffic aid posts soon
Meanwhile, a medical aid post and a traffic aid post, which have been already constructed at Madavana, will start functioning once a permanent concessionaire is appointed, the official pointed out.
The medical aid post is being established to provide emergency medical care to accident victims, while the traffic aid post will ensure the safety of motorists by acting on traffic violations on the stretch.
A mobile police squad will be deployed at the traffic post for round-the-clock patrolling.