Edappazhanji junction: Marriage halls trigger traffic jam
The queue of vehicles extended from Cotton Hill primary school to Edapazhanji.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sporadic traffic jams have become common at Edapazhanji Junction on Kochar Road due to lack of coordination between marriage halls and traffic police. On Friday, around 10.30 am, once again hell broke loose here due to a cascading effect caused by a bottleneck in front of RDR Auditorium located 100 metre away. Motorists at the junction also contributed to the jam as vehicles from all directions started jumping the red signal leading to a mega jam.
The queue of vehicles extended from Cotton Hill primary school to Edapazhanji. A lone traffic policeman at Edapazhanji was left helpless for some time before he could switch off the signal. Finally, a few auto rickshaw drivers came to his rescue, but quarrels broke out as they banged on vehicles which jumped signals despite their directions. RDR Auditorium officials claim they can accommodate some 240 cars on their parking ground and they employ no traffic wardens. When marriage simultaneously happens in Alakapuri Auditorium located on the opposite side of the junction, jams occur at Edapazhanji.
“Today there were too many vehicles in RDR as the offspring of a retired PWD chief engineer was getting married. Such jams happen mostly after the wedding, but today it happened before wedding during a peak hour,” said an employee of a nearby fuel station who did not wish to be identified. Traffic Police (North) stated that it would discuss with managements of both auditoriums to settle the issues. “We had rushed two patrol parties including traffic enforcement group to manage the jam. We are taking this seriously and will make a plan to avoid it,” said assistant commissioner.