The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) will submit a rectification report on the Elamkulam curve on SA Road at the earliest to KRSA, District Road Safety Committee, Kochi Corporation, and Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), so that they can implement measures at the earliest, according to Ebin Sam, scientist in charge of NATPAC’s Kozhikode regional centre.
Friday’s visit to the locale and a visual observation show that inadequate banking curve and inconsistent carriageway (varying width of the road due to encroachments or other reasons) could have triggered accidents involving fast-moving vehicles. A detailed inquiry, based on data generated by equipment which measures the angle of the curve and the gradient, will shed more light on the cause of accidents. Both sides of the median at the curve are vulnerable to accidents, and it is vindicated by the crash data, he added.
Inconsistent carriageway is a major cause for accidents in Ernakulam, said sources in the Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA) and the traffic police.
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The Ernakulam District Private Bus Operators Association had repeatedly flagged many such spots on arterial roads, which considerably taper down at junctions, as compared to their average width. “A short, severely-tapered down stretch on Banerjee Road, just before the left turn towards Paramara Road is a prominent bottleneck. This is being cited as a reason for the police diverting buses proceeding from Kacheripady to North overbridge through alternative roads. This causes wastage of fuel and time per trip, apart from accidents,” said K.B. Suneer of the body.
The accidents could have been prevented had Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) acquired a few cents more at the spot, when it widened Banerjee Road before the Kochi metro work began.