Notwithstanding safety concerns, illegal parking of trucks along the Container Terminal Road will continue unabated till October.
Officials said the police had been directed not to act tough against those parking vehicles illegally despite the alarming frequency of accidents reported on the stretch.
“We have no other option but to wait until a dedicated parking space opens up along the stretch. Once the facility, having the capacity to accommodate 200 trucks at a given point of time, becomes operational, no operator will get off scot-free as all vehicles parked illegally will be strictly impounded,” said Arul R.B. Krishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kochi city.
A decision with regard to not act tough on illegally parked trucks was conveyed to the police during a stakeholder meeting convened by Minister for Ports Kadannappally Ramachandran in July. It followed a strike by carrier operators in protest against police action.
During a crackdown earlier, around 30 container carriers parked along the road were impounded by the police, and conditions such as producing the land tax receipt for Rs.10 lakh were set to release them.
The fact that the department does not posses enough space to keep the seized trucks in safe custody also forced the cops to go slow for the time being. “As the security of these vehicles becomes our responsibility from the moment we seize it, we decided to wait until a practical solution comes up,” the DCP added.
Close to 150 accidents
As per estimates, the 17.2-kilometre stretch witnessed close to 150 accidents during the first six months of 2016, claiming eight lives. While illegal parking of container lorries has been cited as a major factor, the dark stretches along the road also pose a threat to motorists during night hours.
A study conducted by the police last year showed that over 600 container lorries were illegally parked along the road on weekends, compared to 250 to 300 vehicles on other days. Though the National Highways Authority of India has drawn up an estimate of Rs.6.90 crore for installing streetlights along the stretch, it is yet to act on the proposal.
