KOCHI: A routine weekday morning turned into a test of patience for commuters as monsoon rain coupled with traffic left vehicles crawling on the Kaloor-Palarivattom stretch for nearly two hours on Thursday.
“Rainfall causes waterlogging. This, combined with metro construction and potholes on the road, creates the perfect conditions for a gridlock,” says a Kochi City traffic police officer.
“During rains, many two-wheeler users switch to cars. Add school buses, college students and office-goers into the mix, and the roads become overwhelmed. We had to deploy additional personnel to manage the situation,” he says.
Thursday’s congestion highlighted a reality that commuters along the Kochi Metro’s Phase II corridor have been dealing with for months.
As the city pursues one of its most ambitious infrastructure projects — the 11.2-km Pink Line extension connecting Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Infopark and SmartCity — the promise of improved connectivity is increasingly colliding with the challenges of the present.
During the day, the stretch witnesses rush-hour congestion. By night, sudden diversions, uneven surfaces, narrowed carriageways and disappearing road shoulders leave commuters frustrated.
“I go to work in the morning and the road is there. While returning, I have to figure it out all over again,” rues Aravind Nair, a techie working at Infopark.
Officials associated with the project, however, argue that such disruptions are unavoidable during large-scale infrastructure works. “We are trying to push the work forward, so construction is carried out extensively at night. To avoid mishaps and ensure public safety, we have introduced deviations wherever necessary,” says a Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) official.
“One of the main challenges we face is that many of these roads are narrow. We have to barricade portions of the road using whatever space available. As for potholes, many roads had such issues before metro construction began,” says the official, adding that the city experienced similar disruptions during the construction of the first metro phase.
“Once the project was completed, it significantly improved mobility and eased travel for the public,” he adds.
