Thiruvananthapuram-based National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) will conduct a detailed study of the accident-prone curve at Elamkulam on SA Road and suggest remedial measures, its Director Samson Mathew has said.
This follows a request from the City Traffic Police and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD), in the wake of recurring accidents in the area. A spot inspection will be done and a report submitted to the Kerala Road Safety Authority. It will be forwarded to the agency that maintains the road, which ought to execute remedial measures.
“NATPAC has been associated with accident-prevention measures in 140 accident-prone black spots across Kerala. Of them, 66 are on national highways, and the rest on other roads. The agency which owns the road has to improve the engineering and allied aspects of each black spot to prevent accidents,” Mr. Mathew said.
During the past two months, the traffic police had carried out a joint inspection of accident-prone spots in the city along with officials of various agencies, said Aishwarya Dongre, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, Law and Order). “We are also in touch with NATPAC to improve the state of affairs. This collective effort at lessening accidents will continue. A holistic approach is being adopted, since it was observed that driver’s fault is not the cause for all accidents. Road safety measures were further stepped up in connection with the Road Safety Week observance in January. Apart from awareness programmes through media, police presence was stepped up at night,” she added.
Among those who inspected the accident spot at Elamkulam was P.T. Thomas, MLA. “A major reason for frequent accidents could be unscientific road engineering. I have directed the District Collector to urgently intervene in the issue and ask the district-level Road Safety Committee to allot funds to install surveillance cameras and clearly-visible boards to prevent accidents here. Steps must also be taken to lessen the speed of vehicles on the newly resurfaced stretch,” he said.
Mayor M. Anilkumar said he had convened two meetings to discuss ways to avert accidents at the curve. “It is sad that fatalities are continuing, despite readying preventive measures,” he added.
Meanwhile, District Collector S. Suhas said he had issued instructions to stakeholders (the police and the Kochi Corporation, which owns the road) to take steps to mitigate accidents. “Moreover, an initiative under the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has been envisaged, and it will be implemented as soon as we receive funds,” he informed.
