About 300 people staged a protest near the Vyttila Mobility Hub on Thursday to highlight the deplorable condition of RSAC Road. The road links the service road under Vyttila Railway Overbridge to the Mobility Hub.
A large number of women, representatives of organisations, including residents’ associations, laid siege to the Vyttila Mobility Hub end of the road under the banner of Vyttila RSAC Road Janakeeya Samithi.
The main demand was the reconstruction of the road. The road had been resurfaced twice in the past two months, but still the road is in a pitiable condition.
CPI(M) Vyttila area secretary N. Satheesh inaugurated the demonstration. He said RSAC Road was the main link for road users and motorists coming from Irumpanam, Thiruvankulam, Tripunithura and Eroor.
It was also a crucial link for those heading to various parts of the city from the mobility hub. The Public Works Department had to take extra interest to repair the road at the earliest, he said. Traffic flow through the road had increased considerably after the mobility hub started functioning.
Babu, a resident of the locality, said the road had been in poor condition even before the rains. “It worsened over the past two months, though it was repaired twice,” he said. The poor upkeep of the road has drawn the ire of the people because it is a crucial link to the busy mobility hub.
Autorickshaw driver Kumar, who uses the road frequently to ferry passengers to the Mobility Hub, said the RSAC road had become difficult to negotiate. The condition has been poor for a long time now, he said.
Kumar, an autorickshaw driver who drives down the road frequently to ferry passengers to the mobility hub, said potholes on RSAC Road had become difficult to negotiate.
“The road has been in a shambles for a long time now,” he said. Heavy traffic on the road despite it being open only for one lane traffic has also angered the local residents.
Corporation of Cochin councillor Sunitha Dixon defended the delay in repairing the road. “The RSAC road is now not in a condition to handle the heavy traffic movement on it,” she said. The road needed to be completely resurfaced and construction material has already been procured for the purpose, said Ms. Dixon.
She said one of the reasons for the poor condition of the road was constant waterlogging during the rains. The problem was severe during the monsoon months starting in June. Once the waterlogging issue was resolved, the road could be restored to normal traffic.
She said the road did not have storm water drainage for the past two decades. New drains were being built, but work was often interrupted owing to intermittent rain. The corporation authority’s commitment to repair the road was clear, said the councillor.
Meanwhile, the contractor, who repaired the road recently, has not yet been paid. “He had agreed to repair the road,” Ms. Dixon said, denying allegations of corruption raised by the protesters.
CPI(M) Vyttila local secretary K.N. Dasan, P.B. Valsalan, Kaneesh, Suresh Oommen, K.K. Rajiv, P.R. Sathyan were among those who addressed protesters. K.G. Chandradhaman, president of the Janakeeya Samithi, presided.
