A ride along the 30-km Karamana-Kaliyikkavila stretch of National Highway 47, passing through the capital district with unending traffic snarls stands a testimony to the woes commuters face during their daily journey.
The Express team which started off to conduct a reality check at 9:30 am was welcomed by a traffic jam on the Karamana-Papanamcode stretch. The condition of the road worsens at junctions, particularly at Papanamcode, Nemom,
Balaramapuram, Amaravila and Parasala, as the width of the road is too narrow to hold the ever-increasing traffic. When the standard road width for NH is 45 metres (for getting Central government funding), the width of Karamana-Kaliyikkavila stretch is just 12-14 metres.
The fact that the road connects the state with the neighbouring Tamil Nadu at Kanyakumari, which is a favourite tourist spot as well as a pilgrimage destination, keeps it busy throughout the day. It is also a route frequented by heavy vehicles as essential commodities, including vegetables, come from across the border.
Buses from both Kerala and Tamil Nadu run frequent services in the region. Though the potholes, which were once the nightmare of the commuters on the route, has now been covered, the traffic bottlenecks have only increased.
At peak hours, it worsens and is a headache to traffic policemen manning the busy junctions. Pedestrians find it hard even to cross the road.
The scenario was no different five years ago, which prompted the residents’ associations from Karamana to Kaliyikkavila to join hands. They formed the Karamana-Kaliyikkavila National Highway Development Action Council in 2007. Ever since, protests and debates were spearheaded by the council and various NGOs started supporting their cause.
The main demand of the action council is that the widening of the road should be carried out on a war-footing and the width of the road should be increased from the present 12-14 metres to 30.2 metres. But the project cost for road widening, which was `640 crore five years ago during the LDF rule, has now over shot and is now estimated to be `990 crore.
A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in August had given in principle clearance for developing the Karamana-Kaliyikkavila national highway with provisions for extending the monorail service over the stretch in future. The medians on the 30.2-metre carriageway will also be increased from 1.5 metres to three metres in view of the proposed monorail that is to end at Neyyattinkara.
The national highway development authorities plan to widen the median by reducing the width of the proposed pedestrian walkways on both sides. The meeting also decided to set up three separate teams for the speedy completion of the land acquisition process. A 4(1) notification for the acquisition of land on 6-km stretch from Karamana was issued subsequently. But the opposition from those parties who possess the land is delaying the widening project.
Sources in the PWD said the district administration had identified suitable land for the rehabilitation of shops and other
commercial establishments, and had also completed the process of sending eviction notices to the shop owners. “The Thiruvananthapuram District Collector has been appointed the Rehabilitation Officer of the project as 30.1784 hectares of land had to be acquired. He will be responsible for the rehabilitation of those being displaced. But many of those who will be displaced are putting up a stiff resistance and are even planning to take legal recourse,” said a senior PWD official.
As per the plan, the 12-km stretch from Karamana to Vazhimukku will be taken up in the first phase of the widening of the busy NH stretch.
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