No patch work, Kochi’s unrepaired roads grind traffic; corp promises action soon

Kochi: City roads have deteriorated fast despite monsoon remaining weak, and the authorities’ failure to carry out timely patchwork of arterial roads has resulted in severe traffic jams.A heavy traffic jam was experienced on Edappally-Cheranalloor Road, the Kaloor-Palarivattom stretch of Banerji Road and Seaport-Airport Road, among others, in recent days. The bad condition of detours worsens the scenario.“Many of the arterial alternatives meant to bypass the stretches, where construction works by Kochi Metro and NHAI are progressing, are also in bad shape. A routine 30-minute ride from Infopark to Kadavanthra via Eroor took me an hour and a half on Monday.

The city experienced a heavy traffic gridlock on Friday and Saturday as well,” said Arjun P Bhaskar of Kochi First citizen collective.“Key alternative routes like Salim Rajan Road, Thammanam-Pullepady Road (near Kadavanthra), Vyttila-Kaniyampuzha Road and Pipeline Road are in terrible shape,” he said.The collective questioned why Kochi was excluded from the state govt’s City Road Improvement Project, which modernises road networks in Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram and Kozhikode.

While NHAI moved swiftly on Monday morning to fill craters at Cheranalloor Junction, the Edappally-Varappuzha NH stretch remains heavily affected. Motorists face agonisingly slow-moving traffic from Edappally all the way to Kunnumpuram Junction.“Edappally railway overbridge has become a notorious bottleneck. It is filled with potholes, making it especially dangerous for motorcyclists,” said Edappally Vikasana Samithi general secretary K G Radhakrishnan.Residents complain that local bodies and PWD are not showing the desired urgency, unlike federal agencies. The failure of local authorities to execute timely patchworks has severely worsened the city’s existing gridlock.“We should follow the example of cities like Bengaluru and Chennai, where potholes are filled on a war footing,” said Confederation of Residential Welfare Associations general secretary Ajith Kumar P C.

“Instead, we see craters appearing at vital nodes like Vyttila Junction (from Tripunithura side) and near Durbar Hall Ground, despite a relatively low rainfall,” he said.Local administrators point to global supply chains for the delay in carrying out repairs of city road networks. Kochi Corporation public works standing committee chairperson T K Ashraf said patchworks would begin within a week.“Contractors initially boycotted tenders because a conflict in the Middle East drove asphalt prices up by 70%.

The state govt recently introduced a price variation compensation package for contractors, but the corporation is still awaiting the official PWD order, which was out on Monday. We hope to start the work in a week’s time,” he said.In the interim, the corporation’s makeshift fixes have drawn sharp criticism. Temporary concrete-mix fillings on Deshabhimani and Ponekkara roads have created uneven, rough patches. Residents complain that vehicles are forced onto a single side of the street.