An uneven road surface under a Metro pillar on Sahodaran Ayyappan Road near Ernakulam South Overbridge, close to Panampilly Nagar
Kochi : The state govt on Wednesday filed an affidavit before the high court stating that it had decided to sanction Rs 10 crore for the permanent rectification of road surface protrusions and uneven portions around the Metro pillars along S A Road from Vyttila Metro Station to Manorama Junction in Kochi city. A bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V M Syam Kumar subsequently directed the Kochi corporation to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken for the commencement of the work by the next posting date, Sept 16. The affidavit filed by finance department additional chief secretary K R Jyothilal on behalf of the state govt stated that the decision was based on an expert committee’s assessment of the work required along the 3.10km stretch. The amount of Rs 10 crore would be released upon completion of the procedures and formalities required for commencement of the work, it stated. Vadakkan claimed in his petition that the protrusions were approximately 3 to 4 inches above road level.
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Besides the Sahodaran Ayyappan Road stretch, the other accident-prone locations in the city are at Kalamassery, Edappally near Changampuzha Park, Kacheripady-Kaloor and MG Road, according to him. The court was considering a PIL filed by Pauly Vadakkan of Kadavanthra in Kochi, seeking a directive to the authorities to address the dangerous road surface irregularities that have developed around the Metro pillars. They are not easily visible to motorists, especially at night, thereby posing a grave risk to road users, particularly two-wheeler riders. Referring to several media reports, he alleged that the protrusions were akin to hitting an invisible wall and highlighted incidents of vehicles overturning and repeated near-miss accidents. The absence of warning signs, reflective indicators and other safety measures had aggravated the risk posed to road users, he claimed. Download the TOI App.