Cops inspect black spot on Chambakkara-Petta Rd

Kochi: In the wake of frequent accidents, traffic police conducted an inspection on Chambakkara-Petta Road on Sunday. In the past few months, several accidents occurred in the area.Police will chalk out a plan to reduce or avoid accidents in the area. Traffic police assistant commissioner Sherif S and Kochi Metro traffic consultant retd DSP Sunish Babu, along with other officials, visited the road. The visit was based on a petition submitted by corporation councillors V P Chandran and Xavier P Antony, highlighting recurring traffic accidents and the resulting fatalities. "It is at night most accidents occur. There are multiple reasons for this. There are two or three sudden curves immediately after the descending Petta bridge while travelling to Petta side. Motorists fail to recognise in advance that there are curves. In the past couple of weeks, three died in accidents in the area," said Chandran. Police have taken note of all these issues when we briefed. They have promised to chalk out a plan to avoid accidents and implement it without fail," he said.In the past two years, many have died in vehicle accidents here and several others sustained grievous injuries. Inadequate scientific road construction and traffic management issues are causing repeated accidents. Lack of zebra crossings for pedestrians to safely cross the road also contributes to accidents. Police examined all these features in detail. "There were zebra marks in the area. But the markings faded over years and authorities failed to redraw them. Vehicles, especially motorcycles, ramming Metro pillar 852 in the area is another issue. Authorities have noticed the issue," Chandran said.Congress mandalam president E Ratheesh Kumar and residents' association representatives K R Nandakumar, A P Anil Kumar, P C Varghese, V P Anil Kumar, Hemalatha Dayanandan, Sheelna Varghese, N P Manoj and Rajesh Menon T S explained the recurring accidents to the officials.There are also reports that dysfunctional streetlights are another cause of accidents. Though the issue has been brought to the notice of authorities, including Kochi corporation and the Cochin Smart Mission Ltd, which erected the lights, the issue is yet to be resolved.