Kozhikode: The city is in the grip of Onam-Bakrid celebrations with rains keeping off and small vendors mushrooming everywhere. The district administration and the police have made preparations to avoid traffic jams. Mananchira Square, SM Street and the beach have witnessed huge crowds with festival fairs being held at Swapna Nagari and the beach. Elaborate parking arrangements are in place and all grounds and open spaces, including the Malabar Christian College ground, Swapna Nagari, Confident group land near Arayidathuplam, have been made available for parking.
The auto drivers say that there is a significant dip in traffic with less number of private vehicles arriving. Mehjul Muhammed, an auto driver, said many keep the vehicles in the parking spaces and hire autos to move out. Assistant commissioner (traffic) A.K. Babu asked the public to cooperate with their efforts to regulate the traffic. “If the arrangements prove successful, it can be replicated in the coming years,” he said.
Collector bats for public transport
Kozhikode district collector U.V. Jose, the architect of the new traffic culture for city dwellers, preventing single man driven vehicles from entering the city during festival days, hopes that with this season more and more people would start using public transport systems like autorikshaws and city buses keeping their cars safe in public and private parking spots.
Though the idea was earlier mooted by former district collector N. Prasanth to convert vacant lands and certain spots into parking grounds ensuring that land owners earned something while operators were also regulated under the guidelines of the police and district administration, it failed to click due to a systematic follow up.
Former city police commissioner AV George also made an attempt to ban single-passenger cars in the city during festival days, but that also proved futile in the absence of alternate arrangements. UV Jose told DC that his team had reviewed the nitty-gritty of the concept and also ensured sufficient personnel to encourage the public to use the parking spaces. “We have ensured sufficient parking grounds and will review the concept in the coming days”, Mr U.V. Jose said.
