Parking woes at Sree Chitra, Regional Cancer Centre

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Scores of patients and bystanders coming to Medical College, Regional Cancer Centre and Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) have a hard time parking their vehicles. It's mostly drop-and-go, which causes real hardship to patients who come for chemotherapy and radiation at RCC.

The road next to the medical college police station which goes to SCTIMST and RCC is like a chock-a-block on weekdays with the traffic wardens having a real hard time controlling the traffic. If you are not an expert driver, then it's all the more difficult to manoeuvre your vehicle from not hitting the people on the streets.

The staff working at MCH, SCTIMST and RCC also don't have parking space. The staff of SCTIMST and RCC is sharing the few limited parking spaces opposite the Medical College playground. But there is parking for less than 30 vehicles there.

Vijaya Krishnan, a cancer patient on her first visit to RCC, had come in her car along with her husband.

"We were caught off guard when we realised that there was no parking space for RCC patients. My husband had to park our car almost two km away and then took an autorickshaw to RCC. All this time, I was waiting at the entrance to the lobby as the patient card issued by RCC was with me. Moreover, I needed a bystander, and it took my husband to reach back almost an hour," said Ms Krishnan, a resident of Pettah in the city.

Scores of vehicles of staff of SCTIMST and RCC can be seen parked on both sides of the road, causing utter chaos to the motorists and pedestrians alike. A senior employee of SCTIMST said she feels lucky if she can park her car near the MCH quarters.

"I daily commute from Kollam. It is easy for me to drive from Kollam. The moment I reach MCH Junction, it's chock-a-block. It's a real headache manoeuvring the car without hitting pedestrians as most of them are deep in their thoughts. It's harakiri when an ambulance comes," she told DC.

The compound wall of the MCH ground is being constructed now congesting half of the road that goes to RCC with sand and cement for the construction, making things worse. This work does not come under the MCH master plan, though.

But there is parking space opposite to the main block of the SCTIMST where a few dozen vehicles can be parked. But that area has been blocked by the authorities with no parking marked where pavement sellers of mobile earphone accessories, belts and jackets have invaded the space.

The medical college authorities have turned a blind eye towards these pavement dwellers. They have also encroached on the busy stretch that leads to the MCH OP clinics opposite to State Bank of India.