The Vyttila Junction, where the construction of a flyover and a metro pillar is progressing, witnessed one of its worst traffic jams on Saturday as hundreds of motorists were stuck on all four sides of the junction during the day.
Commuters and motorists proceeding from Edappally to Vyttila and Alappuzha to Kochi had a horrid time as they braved gridlocks at various points between Palarivattom and Kundannoor respectively. The junction, one of the busiest in the State, has been witnessing major traffic snarls with vehicles taking more than an hour to navigate the stretch.
Adding to the chaos, many minor accidents, especially those involving two-wheeler riders who attempted to negotiate the bumper-to-bumper traffic, were reported from the area.
Officers with the Kochi city traffic police attributed the gridlock on Saturday to the implementation of a new traffic plan for buses. The revised plan envisaged the entry of buses proceeding from Ernakulam to the Vyttila Mobility Hub through the Vyttila-Pettah Road.
Avoiding long delays
According to officials, the objective of the new traffic regulation was to avoid the lengthy delays on the national highway due to the entry of vehicles to Vyttila by taking a U-turn through the traffic island at Thammanam Road. “The plan was implemented on an experimental basis from 8 a.m. on Saturday, but was withdrawn about four hours later. However, it took us a couple of hours more to clear the backlog,” said R. Madhu, Circle Inspector, Traffic East station.
Karuppasamy R., Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kochi city, said several major roads in the city had been witnessing major development works, increasing vehicular traffic along the remaining stretches.
“It’s a combination of factors that have led to the current situation at Vyttila. The police are cooperating with all other stakeholder agencies to remove all the unnecessary things blocking smooth traffic. But unexpected factors like weekend traffic may have an impact on our measures on a temporary basis,” said the officer, the head of the city traffic police.
Meanwhile, official sources pointed out that the problem was set to worsen in the coming days as shoppers from all over would land in the city during the upcoming festival season.
