THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pot-holed roads, trees and branches leaning on roads and properties, and illegal hoardings and flex boards erected at junctions and on busy road stretches are putting the lives of motorists and others at risk in the capital. With the advent of summer showers, roads are fast turning into death traps.
While Kerala became the first Indian state to install AI cameras to enhance road safety and bring down accidents, the authorities concerned, including the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, are yet to wake up from their slumber and take necessary action to make the streets safe ahead of monsoon, just weeks away.
“We don’t need artificial intelligence or hi-tech projects to ensure road safety. It is unfortunate that the government is taking up such projects without addressing other larger issues that are putting lives of road users at risk. The authorities are conveniently neglecting ground realities and hardly taking steps to ensure timely pruning of trees, making roads motorable or removing dangerously erected hoardings,” said M S Venugopal, president of Federation of Residents Association, Thiruvananthapuram.
He said Kerala is not like Europe, the UAE or any other developed country for implementing projects like AI cameras. “At least, the government should first take note of the roads and other infrastructure the countries provide to citizens before implementing rules and imposing hefty fines,” Venugopal said.
Hoardings are another menace faced by the capital, he said. “There are multiple Kerala High Court orders, but the authorities are not ready to enforce it. The civic body should ensure hoardings are removed after a programme is over. It should also designate areas for putting up hoardings,” Venugopal said.
A senior official of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said they had informed the state government in March that pre-monsoon activities especially pruning and felling of trees should be undertaken at the earliest.
“The chief minister had convened a meeting in April and directed local bodies to undertake all these activities at the earliest. We warned the authorities that rain as intense as monsoon rainfall can happen before the season commences. Local bodies should give top priority to these things as they can turn fatal. We have mentioned this clearly in the Orange book (which deals with monsoon preparedness). The wind is an emerging disaster in Kerala, and hoardings and trees can turn dangerous and life-threatening,” said the official.
Road safety expert and former executive director of Kerala Road Safety Authority Tango Elangovan said several orders and directives have been issued in the past to ensure road safety. “Accidents affect pedestrians the worst. As per statistics, deaths of pedestrians constitute 22% of the fatalities in road accidents. Encroachments, lamp posts, hoardings and trees are primary reasons for such accidents. The government decided to form a district-level task force to identify such issues and address them. There needs to be a monitoring system to regularly review the functioning of these task forces,” Elangovan said.
During every rain, many trees and branches fall on roads and private properties leading to loss. The emergency helpline of the fire department is flooded with calls. A senior official with the district wing of the fire and rescue services department said timely pruning is not taking place in the city.
“As first responders, we get numerous calls. It’s the local bodies’ responsibility to prune trees to prevent such calamities and destructions. Though we are prepared for such disasters, prevention should always be given priority,” said the official.
Horrid hoardings
Illegal hoardings are another menace faced by the capital. There are multiple Kerala High Court orders, but the authorities have failed to enforce them
What the local body says
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation secretary Binu Francis said the mayor has convened the tree committee meeting next week to draw up an action plan to prune trees. He said a meeting was held last week to address the hoarding menace. “As many as 40 stakeholders took part in the meeting. We have decided not to renew the licence if they don’t produce a stability certificate. We will remove hoardings that lack stability certificates,” said Francis. On other illegal hoardings that are put up in various nook and crany of the city, Francis said the civic body is conducting regular drives to remove them.