The Fort area is a very congested location; one where houses exist cheek by jowl with bustling roads. Even so, there are some spots inside the Fort area which are particularly taxing even for an expert motorist. The small junction where the Sreekanteswaram Park —Vazhappally Junction road branches off towards the West Fort exit is one such.
This junction has to handle traffic coming from the park area, from Vazhappally, from the Old Airport road, and even from the West Gate of the Padmanabhaswamy temple.
To say that this junction is incapable of handling such a traffic volume would be putting it mildly. As if the traffic snarl caused by cars, autorickshaws, and two-wheelers is not bad enough, buses and trucks too troop to this junction daily to ‘see what they can do to add to the chaos.’
Of course, this does not take away anything from the crawl of vehicles bringing patients to the nearby private hospital and its annexe, a short walk away.
The icing on this cake is, no doubt, that strategically parked car by the roadside which single-handedly holds up traffic for the better part of half an hour.
A traffic signal at this small junction may be too much to hope for, but a traffic warden perhaps.
Heaps of debris have been lying on the pavement made of interlocking tiles near the Attakulangara traffic signal for the past several months. Residents of the locality and road users are peeved at the insensitivity of the civic authorities even after repeated pleas to get these removed.
The obstruction on the walkway forces pedestrians to step on the road, already bustling with vehicles. It is ironic that the police, who leave no chance to penalise motorists who inadvertently park on the pavement or so, turn a blind eye to this destruction of public property.
You may want to avoid the vicinity of any theatre in the city shortly after a show. Cinema-goers come out of the gates of the city’s crammed theatre premises in a tearing hurry, often leading to seemingly never-ending traffic jams. If the film has earned positive reviews and looks poised to be a major success, then even a morning or matinee show is bound to have a massive audience, and thereby more congestion. Take the Kunnumpuram road for instance. It is known as the Dhanya-Remya road for the twin theatres here. The road connects the Ayurveda College junction to the Ambujavilasom road. A vital road link, it is opted by most commuters as it leads to the Vanchiyoor, General Hospital, and the Kaithamukku regions. Also, it bypasses more busy locations such as East Fort and Statue. The past week saw frequent blocks following the release of a popular film. Perhaps, the theatre-owners themselves could device a plan or employ additional staff to redirect cars to minimise the mess caused by vehicles entering and exiting the theatre. Two-wheelers parked along this narrow route makes things even worse.
(Reporting by G. Mahadevan, Rajesh B. Nair, and Kaavya Pradeep Kumar)
