‘Corridor' could decongest city

A 60-km inner orbital road corridor linking Mangalapuram, Pothencode, Powdikonam, Vazhayila, Vattiyoorkavu, Peyad, Malayinkeezhu, and Vizhinjam has been mooted for the district to promote balanced development and to decongest the capital city.

Vehicular traffic in Thiruvananthapuram region has increased rapidly with more people using private vehicles. Traffic experts say that traffic congestion is no longer restricted to ‘peak hours'; it is there all day.

An analysis shows that the development of a radial-cum-orbital network of roads for Thiruvananthapuram will be ideal. Former director of NATPAC and architect of the ongoing City Road Improvement Programme (CRIP) N.S. Srinivasan says a network of three orbital roads and radial roads will improve the connectivity of regional nodal centres with Thiruvananthapuram and amongst themselves. These road corridors will also act as “development corridors”.

The last two decades saw an urban sprawl developing in the capital. The city expanded beyond the administrative boundary. It does not function in isolation anymore and it is functionally related to peripheral areas. In the Thiruvananthapuram Capital Region, the ‘mother city' and the satellite towns — Neyyattinkara (including Balaramapuram), Nedumangad (including Karakulam), Attingal and Varkala — are almost equidistant, and for such a setting proper linkages are vital.

Dr. Srinivasan says such a development would help to retain the present pattern of distribution of human settlement with rural-urban continuum. Moreover, there is an urgent need to halt further congestion in the city core and to evolve planning solutions at regional level.

Land acquisition

He wants the government to take up the proposed 60-km corridor on a priority basis as land can be acquired adjacent to this road and developed for residential, employment and commercial purposes. Development of a land bank will also be useful. As the cost of land in the mid-region is reasonably low, this proposal is likely to attract many investors. Public-private partnership with funding from private sector and budgetary support has also been suggested.