Traders oppose underpass at Mullakkara Junction

Thrissur: A section of shopkeepers at Mullakkara Junction has come out against the proposed underpass across the Mannuthy-Vadakkumchery six-lane highway approved by the NHAI after a series of protests. They had moved the HC citing that the value of their properties would go down and it would adversely affect their business. The HC is expected to hold a hearing on the petition on Friday. Meanwhile, the NHAI and its contractor have postponed works on the underpass, meant for safe movement of pedestrians, two-wheelers and autorickshaws, till the HC issues an order.

The underpass will be the first such project to be executed on this highway stretch. Data collected from four police stations on accidents in the past five years on the 37-km Mannuthy-Karukutty stretch between Thrissur and Ernakulam shows along with quality roads, proper safety measures, signal system and underpasses need to be put in place to save human lives, the tollway action council leader P. B. Sateesh said.

"The data collected from Nadathara, Puthukkad, Kodakara, Chalakudy-Koratty police stations say that starting from January 1, 2011, until December 22, 2015, there were 2028 road accidents that killed 419 persons while 2,359 persons suffered serious injuries and 513 were maimed. So underpasses at busy junctions are critical for such major six-lane highways," he said.