Clamour for decongesting Vyttila Jn., widening Kaniyampuzha Road grows louder

With the State government, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Public Works department, the Kochi Corporation, and the Transport department doing little to execute long-overdue projects to decongest Vyttila and roads that lead to the junction, the Vyttila United Forum and the Kaniyampuzha Vikasana Samiti have stepped up their efforts to clear bottlenecks at the junction and streamline traffic flow.

Taking into account worsening traffic snarls at the junction, despite the construction of a six-lane flyover in 2021, these NGOs have intensified their demand seeking effective and timely intervention of the Motor Vehicles department, the traffic police and the road-owning agencies to fast-track the redevelopment projects proposed at Vyttila and at the bell mouth of roads that take off from the junction.

Ample land available at the free left turn at the entry to S.A. Road from Vyttila Junction is yet to be tarred by the Kochi Corporation. This has, in turn, become a haven for encroachers.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT

Sources in the PWD confided that a ₹ 1-crore proposal submitted earlier this year to the State government to redevelop the junction by reducing the width of the roundabout and also of the massive medians beneath the flyover is yet to take off due to the delay in getting sanction. The project cost included the expense to resurface the areas that ought to be chipped away from the structures as per national highway specifications, they said.

Agitated at the delay in redeveloping the junction and traffic reforms initiated by the police not yielding the desired results, office-bearers of the Vyttila United Forum that has been spearheading the demand for a signal-free Vyttila Junction recently submitted a memorandum to Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar who had inspected the junction in April, seeking speedy measures to end the huge traffic snarls that engulf the junction. “This was after witnessing the harrowing time that motorists and pedestrians have been facing at Vyttila during the past many years,” said Thampy V.R., the forum’s chairman.

“Based on data that the forum collected, about 80 per cent of the approximately 1 lakh passenger car units (PCUs) that crisscross the junction daily move in the east-west direction – westward towards the city and eastward while exiting the city, through S.A. Road. Based on this, the forum readied drawings with measurements of the existing roads, medians and other structures. We apprised, among others, the Transport Minister about how the junction’s redevelopment works by using the available space and the hassle-free re-routing of vehicles as per the drawings would help bring about a signal-free junction at Vyttila. This would ensue seamless flow of vehicles sans frequent halts,” he added.

On its part, the Kaniyampuzha Vikasana Samity too has taken up the plight of road users through Vyttila before the stakeholders concerned. Kannan M.S., who has been leading the campaign, slammed the inordinate delay by the PWD in widening Kaniyampuzha Road that runs largely parallel to the congested Vyttila-Pettah road. “The road that has differing width is witnessing perennial snarls due to the steep increase in traffic. Of this, a 171-m-long stretch is the narrowest and vehicles often take 30 minutes to cover the road. Waterlogging has made matters worse, including for pedestrians. All this sometimes even leads to quarrels and fisticuffs between road users. The police must at least curb heavy vehicles until the road is widened,” he added.

Echoing a similar view, V.P. Prasad, chairman of Tripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents Associations (TRURA), said that little has happened despite a token ₹10 crore being mentioned in the State Budget to widen the road at between 12 m and 14-m width as part of decongesting Vyttila. “Stones were laid at many places to acquire land, but a few people are unwilling to surrender land. Alongside the road’s widening, the Seaport-Airport Road must be extended by three km from Karingachira to Puthiyakavu through the wetlands. This too will lessen congestion at Vyttila and the NH Bypass,” he said.