KOCHI: The city which is in the thick of Christmas and New Year season is witnessing heavy traffic congestion. The city and suburban roads are choked with vehicles and the police have a tough time managing the chaos. It takes nearly half an hour to cross the busy Vyttila junction as barricades have been erected for the flyover construction. On Friday and Saturday, passengers remained stranded for hours altogether on roads to travel just for a few kilometres.
Long queues of vehicles were seen at Edappally, Banerjee road, SA road, Edappally - Vyttila bypass, Kathrikadavu, Kadavanthra and Vyttila. When the vehicles got stuck at the barricaded and narrow Kadavanthra junction the entire stretch was blocked. Traffic congestion is worst on SA road and it takes more than 30 minutes to cover the 2.7 -km stretch from Kadavanthra to Vyttila. Passenger density is the maximum on the road as it connects Vyttila mobility hub, where long distance buses halt, to the city.
Unauthorised parking along the roadside and in front of shopping centres and malls results in traffic snarls. "As the holidays have started, there has been significant increase in the number of people coming to the city for shopping and other purposes. Many trips had to be cancelled as we couldn't reach the destination on time," said Vipin Sebastian, an online taxi driver.
Private bus operators were forced to cut trips as they fail to stick to the time schedule. "We are unable to follow the time schedule during peak hours. Sometimes, we end the trip by 8.30 p.m. while the usual timing is 7 p.m," said Abdul Rahim, a private bus conductor. Only few traffic police personnel were deployed to manage the additional vehicle flow and they have failed to streamline the traffic. The Metro rail works and the preparatory works for the construction of new Chambakkara bridge caused heavy traffic jam from Vyttila to Pettah.
