KOCHI: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) principal advisor E Sreedharan has come out against the current design of the Vyttila flyover which is being built now.
In a letter to Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) office-bearer G. Gopinathan and Shameer Abdulla who had proposed alternative designs which do away with signals at the junction, the Metro Man has said that the current flyover won't solve the traffic problems at Vyttila and he had pointed out this to PWD secretary and the minister three months back. Shameer did the design for the Tripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents' Associations which are now on the warpath against the construction along with others. “The present flyover at Vyttila junction will only be a partial solution. The position was also pointed out to the PWD minister via my letter dated November 8, 2017,” E. Sreedharan told G. Gopinathan in a letter dated January 11, 2018.
The letter from Mr Sreedharan to G. Sudhakaran said: “This is the busiest junction in Kochi with traffic converging from five different directions, the dominating direction being from the city towards Tripunithura. With the Vyttila Mobility Hub getting further expanded, the entry and exit from this hub have greatly added to the traffic confusion and congestion at this junction. None of these traffic streams are getting any relief with the proposed fly over.”
“In any traffic junction, from each road the traffic has to move in 3 different directions. This means Vytila junction has to handle traffic in 12 different directions, but the proposed fly over caters to only two directions, the remaining 10 directions getting no relief. Therefore, the present fly over proposal is not going to give relief at this junction. About two years back DMRC had submitted a comprehensive concept plan for this junction totally segregating the NH traffic and the SA road traffic at two levels and this scheme was submitted to the then PWD Secretary, Shri. T.O. Sooraj. It is unfortunate no follow up action was taken on this proposal,” Mr Sreedharan pointed out to the minister.
“I understand works would commence shortly on N.H. fly over. The least that the government can do at this stage is the N.H. fly over proposal should accommodate the structures needed for the SA road flyover at the second level so that further improvements at this junction is possible at a later date. I would request you to give necessary instructions to the engineers concerned and if they need any technical guidance in the matter I am available,” the Metro Man told the minister.
