Traffic snarls order of the day on Civil Line Road in Kochi

Obstructive parking adding to misery of road users

Traffic snarls are worsening by the day on the arterial but narrow Civil Line Road that links the city with the collectorate and the IT hub in Kakkanad, providing a nightmarish ride for tens of thousands of commuters who use the stretch almost on a daily basis.

The snarls turned especially worse on Thursday, when long queues of vehicles were formed on either side of the congested and heavily-encroached upon stretch, said Suresh Kumar P., a resident of Vazhakkala for the past over a decade.

Police personnel were helpless, as vehicles jostled for space at narrow junctions, and at even narrower entry points to side roads. “Haphazard and obstructive parking by cars, autorickshaws, delivery vans, and two-wheelers has been adding to the misery of road users. It is sad that the road, which is used daily by the District Collector and other senior officials of the collectorate, is in such a dire state,” he added.

A senior traffic police officer said there were two reasons for the acute traffic snarls in the corridor. “There are over 18 intersections on the stretch owing to direct entry from pocket roads. This obstructs free movement of vehicles every hundred metres or so. Parking and illegal autorickshaw stands are the second reason,” he said.

The situation will improve if the PWD (Roads wing) restores barricades that the police had erected at Vazhakkala to streamline vehicle flow and to prevent overtaking through the wrong side. “The agency is also duty-bound to remove steel poles erected by telecom and Internet service providers in the corridor, that protrude into the carriageway and junctions. KSEB too must relocate its posts,” he added.

In the meantime, efforts by Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to widen the stretch into a four-lane corridor has slowed down, since the State government has not yet paid over ₹100 crore that has to be handed over to landowners, it is learnt.

The metro agency needs a total of 3.32 hectares, of which possession has been taken of 1.31 hectares (40% of the land needed). Three metres of land is being acquired on either side to widen the stretch to pave the way for erection of pillars as part of the metro’s 11 km Kakkanad extension.