Traffic grinds to a halt on NH stretch between Mudikkode and Peechi

A traffic jam brought the National Highway stretch between Mudikkode and Peechi to a standstill on Saturday morning. The congestion lasted for a few hours, with hundreds of vehicles stranded. Both the service road and the main carriageway remained clogged.

The collapse of the Mudikkode service road was cited as the primary reason for the gridlock. Though tarring was carried out at Kallidukku and Mudikkode, local people alleged that tar-topping had begun to peel off within days due to heavy traffic and rain. They demanded urgent intervention from authorities.

Meanwhile, KPCC secretary Shaji Kodankandath submitted a petition to the Thrissur Collector pointing out serious lapses by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the contracting company.

He said despite the instructions of the monitoring committee headed by the Collector, which was formed following a directive of the Kerala High Court, neither the NHAI nor the contractor had taken scientific steps to strengthen the service roads, widen them, or rectify drainage problems.

He alleged that traffic diversions to panchayat and PWD roads due to traffic blocks on the National Highway had caused extensive damage to those stretches at the Kodakara, Chalakudy, and Ollur constituencies.

“Since this damage is a direct result of the negligence of the NHAI and the contractor, the cost of repairing these roads should be recovered from them,” the petition stated.

Mr. Kodankandath said the underpass construction on the Mudikkode-Vaniyampara- Kallidukku stretch was started without ensuring scientific strengthening of service roads or alternative traffic arrangements, resulting in hardships. “People are literally inhaling road dust every day, leading to health issues. The patchwork tarring done recently is an eyewash and it has already started to erode with rain and heavy vehicle movement,” he said in the petition.