On Monday an autorickshaw plunged into the Thevara-Perandoor Canal after the driver missed a tricky turn near the Pullepady bridge.
Fortunately, the driver Shanmughan was alone in the vehicle and escaped unhurt. The incident occurred around 11 a.m. and the vehicle was pulled out of the canal using a crane.
The Thevara-Perandoor Canal is fast gaining notoriety as a killer spot. It was in the first week of November that an autorickshaw driver missed the turn and headed straight into the canal with nine school students in the vehicle. The students of Kendriya Vidyalaya had a close shave when they fell into the dirty and slushy canal.
City Traffic Police personnel said the driver might have lost control of the vehicle while trying to take the turn towards the second bridge. The stretch was among the list of danger zones listed out by the City Traffic Police way before the first accident took place. The Traffic Police had requested the district administration in June to build a parapet along the banks of the canals to prevent vehicles from falling into them.
“Now that no action has been made till date, we are planning to write another letter to authorities concerned alerting them about the danger,” V.M. Mohammed Rafique, Assistant Commissioner of Police, City Traffic (West), said.
Mayor Tony Chammany admitted that steps were initiated to erect hand railings along the banks of the road immediately after the November mishap. However, bureaucratic delays and reluctance on the part of contractors to take up the assignment put the move on hold. In the light of Monday’s accident, steps would be taken to put safety mechanisms in place at the earliest, Mr. Chammany said.
Erroneous road engineering which has brought about a difference in the height of the bridge and side road and potholes, has been cause for the accidents at that stretch near the Pullepady bridge toll booth.
