A pall of darkness has fallen over Vyttila Junction, claimed to be the biggest junction in Kerala, and the roads that lead to it, due to the absence of streetlights in most areas.
Police sources said it had been leading to accident and a spurt in criminal activities such as peddling of narcotic drugs around the junction, located on the Edappally-Aroor National Highway 66 Bypass, which is the busiest NH stretch in the State. Although the carriageway of the six-lane Vyttila flyover, commissioned in 2021, has adequate lights, the area beneath is bereft of lights, endangering the lives of road users.
Commuters who are not familiar with the junction are often left confused, unable to read the direction board placed atop the flyover, for want of streetlights. “They stand the potential risk of being rammed by fast-moving vehicles when they slow down to decide on whether to use the flyover or to take its service roads to reach destinations located on the city and Thripunithura sides,” said police sources.
A direction board that the traffic police had installed a year ago to guide motorists is missing now, after being knocked down by vehicles.
“Miscreants, including drug peddlers and those who are into immoral activities, seek cover under the darkness that descends over Vyttila Junction, side-roads and service roads of the NH Bypass, thanks to inadequate streetlights,” said Girijavallabhan, a lawyer at Eroor.
“The darkness is also used as a cover to dump garbage. Many like me are kept wondering why agencies that ought to ensure lights in public spaces have not invested in solar-powered lights that automatically turn on when it gets dark. They can very well seek CSR funds of corporate entities if they are short on funds. This is also cost-effective, since there is no need to set apart money for paying power tariff,” he added.
Thammanam resident and RTI activist T.N. Pratapan said even Kaniyampuzha Road that led to Vyttila Mobility Hub remained ill-lit after fall of dusk. “I took up the issue with Public Works department [PWD] officials, following which a few dysfunctional lamp posts on the flyover were repaired. Bus and Kochi Metro commuters who visit the mobility hub ought to wade through dark entry and exits, where danger also lurks in the form of undulated and missing paver blocks. It is a nightmare, especially for women, children and the elderly,” he said.
Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which owns and maintains the NH Bypass, and the PWD (NH wing) that built the flyover said it was the responsibility of the Kochi Corporation to install and maintain streetlights on the approximately eight-km-long Edappally-Thykoodam stretch of the 16-km NH Bypass. “With the civic agency failing to do so, we hope the Cochin Smart Mission Limited, which evinced interest in installing LED lights on the entire NH Bypass, will do so swiftly,” they added.
