Villapuram-Airport Road no more a danger zone

Police take steps to bring down fatal accidents by 40%

Barricades on the road to Madurai airport at Avaniapuram have brought down fatal accident rate.

The roughly eight-km stretch from Villapuram to Madurai airport, which goes through Aruppukottai Main Road and Avaniapuram Bypass Road, has been one of the accident-prone stretches in Madurai City police limits contributing to a significant number of fatal deaths.

However, a combination of road safety measures by the city police over the past few months have brought down the number of fatal accidents by more than 40%. While there were 16 deaths on this stretch in 2017, this year has witnessed only nine deaths till now. Importantly, from August to November, when most of these safety measures were implemented, there was only one fatal accident. In contrast, there were nine fatal accidents in the stretch during the same period last year.

The measures include placing barricades in a zigzag arrangement to control speed and as medians, clear marking of lanes and zebra crossings, installation of blinker lights and stringent enforcement measures.

Commissioner of Police S. Davidson Devasirvatham, in a recent press conference, attributed the erection of barricades for speed control as a major contributing factor in reduction of fatal accidents. Though there was a perception that this arrangement slowed down traffic, it was necessary since it saved lives, he said.

Study done

Arun Balagopalan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Madurai City, said that the police did a thorough study of accidents that took place in the stretch to identify places that needed interventions.

According to him, while pedestrian deaths were more on the Villapuram to Periyar Statue junction stretch on Aruppukkottai Main Road due to relatively narrow carriageway, congestion and encroachments along the road, over-speeding was the key issue on Avaniapuram Bypass Road.

To reduce accidents involving pedestrians, zebra crossings were marked at four spots on Aruppukkottai Main Road. Barricades were erected for speed control at eight spots, a majority of them on Avaniapuram Bypass Road. Blinker lights were installed at three places. “The blinker lights are all solar-powered, which are not just environment-friendly but also economical,” he said. He also lauded Parthasarathy, Inspector of Police, and Joseph Nixon, Assistant Commissioner of Police, who work in the area for their stringent enforcement measures that helped in controlling the accidents.

Welcoming the measures implemented, a number of people from the area, whom The Hindu spoke to, however, appealed for monitoring share autorickshaws, which, according to them, often over-speed at this stretch.