Roads around collectorate to become one-way corridors, to be widened

Steps will be taken to ensure the safety of pedestrians by building footpaths on the road.

Faced with public outcry over a speeding private bus fatally ramming a young woman who was walking along a road near Infopark that did not have footpaths, on Wednesday (November 4), it has been decided to convert all roads around the collectorate compound as one-way corridors.

Moreover, the roads around the collectorate will be widened by acquiring land from the premises of the collectorate, Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS), and other nearby plots. The Thrikkakara municipality will rebuild its compound walls.

In addition, a feasibility study will be done on converting the narrow IMG Junction-Infopark Road, where the accident occurred, into a one-way stretch. Steps will also be taken to ensure the safety of pedestrians by building footpaths on the road. Officials of civic and other agencies have been directed to clear dangling cables and abandoned posts from the stretch.

Apart from this, instructions were issued to the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) to revise the time allotted to operate trips on different routes to prevent reckless driving. The MVD and the police must also take stern measures against bus crew who do not have the mandatory police clearance certificates. The decisions were taken on Saturday (November 7), at a meeting chaired by Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas at the collectorate.

A meeting will be convened after a week to assess the progress of the works entrusted to each department. Follow-up meetings will be held at frequent intervals to discuss measures to prevent accidents on the stretch, Ms. Thomas said.

Those who attended the meeting included District Collector G. Priyanka, officials of National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, Public Works department, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, and the MVD, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Ernakulam) Arun K. Pavithran, and Thrikkakara municipal chairman Rashid Ullampally.