In response to a series of frequent accidents, the Kochi traffic police conducted an inspection on Chambakkara-Petta Road on Sunday. The area has witnessed several accidents in recent months, prompting authorities to take action.
Inspection Details
Traffic Police Assistant Commissioner Sherif S and Kochi Metro Traffic Consultant retired DSP Sunish Babu, along with other officials, visited the road. The inspection was based on a petition submitted by corporation councillors V P Chandran and Xavier P Antony, highlighting recurring traffic accidents and resulting fatalities.
Councillor Chandran stated: "It is at night most accidents occur. There are multiple reasons for this. There are two or three sudden curves immediately after the descending Petta bridge while travelling to Petta side. Motorists fail to recognise in advance that there are curves. In the past couple of weeks, three died in accidents in the area."
Key Issues Identified
- Sharp Curves: Sudden curves after the Petta bridge catch motorists off guard, especially at night.
- Faded Zebra Crossings: Pedestrian markings have faded over years and have not been redrawn, endangering pedestrians.
- Metro Pillar Collisions: Vehicles, particularly motorcycles, frequently ram into Metro pillar 852 in the area.
- Dysfunctional Streetlights: Non-functional lights contribute to poor visibility, though authorities have been notified repeatedly without resolution.
Police have taken note of all issues and promised to chalk out a plan to avoid accidents and implement it without fail. In the past two years, many have died in vehicle accidents here, and several others sustained grievous injuries. Inadequate scientific road construction and traffic management issues are causing repeated accidents.
Congress Mandalam President E Ratheesh Kumar and residents' association representatives including K R Nandakumar, A P Anil Kumar, P C Varghese, V P Anil Kumar, Hemalatha Dayanandan, Sheelna Varghese, N P Manoj, and Rajesh Menon T S explained the recurring accidents to the officials.
Despite complaints to the Kochi Corporation and the Cochin Smart Mission Ltd, which installed the lights, the streetlight issue remains unresolved. Police examined all these features in detail during the inspection.
