G Road and Banerjee Road will cease to be four-lane roads, since Metro pillars have reduced their width by two metres.
The PWD and the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) are in no mood to take up the widening of the bottlenecked portions of these roads, despite concerns raised by residents’ associations, political parties, bus operators, autorickshaw and taxi cab unions.
“Commuters and pedestrians will continue to have a tough time unless the government steps in and allots funds to widen the two arterial roads,” said P. Rangadasa Prabhu, president of the Ernakulam District Residents Associations’ Apex Council (EDRAAC). He blamed the PWD, which owns the two arterial roads, and the KMRL, which owns the Metro, for not initiating the widening of the bottlenecked portions, despite acute traffic snarls even in places where Metro barricades have been removed.
Encroachers
“With the two agencies passing the buck, the Corporation of Cochin must proactively intervene in the issue and seek government funds to widen narrow corridors. The civic agency must also initiate a concerted drive to evict encroachers, which, in itself, will ensure wider carriageway in several city roads,” he said.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) Ernakulam district secretary P. Rajeev warned of more chaos on the two stretches, since the Metro would bring in more people to the city, and they, in turn, would depend on autorickshaws and other vehicles for last-mile connectivity. “The previous LDF government had included the widening of MG Road in the Metro’s preparatory work. But, this was excluded when Metro work began on the stretch. MG Road must be widened and converted into a model road,” he said.
Mr. Rajeev also called for the widening of narrow bell mouths of junctions along the Metro corridor to open up free-left turns.
A senior PWD official said the department had no proposal to retain the four-lane width of the two roads. “The KMRL must widen the narrow portions before returning the roads to us, since they have ample funds at their disposal. They widened the Aluva-Edapally carriageway of the NH 47 prior to the commencement of Metro work, since the NHAI insisted on four-lane width when Metro work was on. It could have emulated the same here too,” he added.
Meanwhile, KMRL sources said that the Metro agency’s focus was the Metro and not road widening. The government must take a call on this, they said.
