The Kerala High Court on Monday asked the State government to inform the court whether a parking slot had been reserved for container trucks along Container Road or not.
The court gave the directive when a writ petition for removing encroachments and illegal parking of vehicles along the Container Road starting from Kalamassery to the LNG terminal at Puthuvype came up for hearing.
The court also sought the responses of the District Collector and the Project Director, National Highways Authority of India, to the plea.
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The petition was filed by George Abraham of Pachalam. According to him, heavy vehicles were parked on the the sides of the Container Road.
Accidents on stretch
As a result of the illegal parking, frequent accidents were taking place on the stretch and many people had lost their lives. The petitioner cited a recent incident in which a four-member family travelling on a motorcycle rammed a parked container truck, killing a child and injuring three others.
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The High Court had earlier directed the police to ban the illegal parking of vehicles along the road and provide sufficient parking space for them. Scant respect had been shown to the court directives.
The petitioner pointed out that commuters found it difficult to use toilets at the Ponnarimangalam toll plaza due to anti-social activities there. The vehicles were parked on the premises of lavatory. The passive attitude of the police gave rise to the suspicion that they were hand in glove with the transport agencies, alleged the petitioner.
He submitted that the District Collector, who was the chairman of the District Road Safety Council, was bound to take action against the illegal parking. The petitioner also sought a directive to the district administration to remove all vehicles parked in front of the lavatory complex at the Ponnarimangalam toll plaza.