Student protests yield Zebra lane near Maharaja’s College

Kochi: The authorities finally heeded a simple but long-standing demand of hundreds of students of the Maharajas College to have a zebra crossing before the college entrance.

The students had protested in innovative ways, including holding of a ‘Sayana Pradakshinam’ (rolling on the floor) at the Ernakulathappan Ground on October 1 last to press their demand.

“The Foreshore Road before the college is one of the busiest in the city. The bus stop towards Aluva side is located just opposite to the college and hundreds of students have to cross the road during busy peak hours everyday.

It’s only here that two sisters had lost their lives after a private bus hit them,” said K Sethuraj, a KSU activist.

Interestingly, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd had placed pedestrian sign boards at the spot though there was no pedestrian crossing.

“We’d personally visited top PWD officers and handed over a complaint in this regard. We’re happy they finally did the safety measure, post the retarring of the road.

Now they have marked zebra crossing at spots before the General Hospital and the Kochi Corporation office, too, where hundreds of people daily visit,” he said.

However, the students say the PWD could have provided a similar safety measures before the Law Collage and the St Teresa’s College, too.

“The Metro authorities have placed pedestrian sign boards here, too, after conducting study on places where pedestrians crossing is high,” said Sethuraj.