Project to redevelop 10 bottlenecked junctions in Kochi at a standstill

A project that was mulled a year ago to widen and redevelop 10 bottlenecked junctions in Kochi and its immediate suburbs has run into rough weather, thanks to non-allocation of funds. “With the State government not allotting funds even for doing the topographic survey, the project that would have ensured faster and streamlined movement of vehicles through these junctions that are located on arterial roads and congested highways, has in effect been dropped,” informed sources said. NATPAC, after consultations with stakeholders like the Greater Cochin Development Authority and the Kochi Corporation, was expected to suggest short-, medium- and long-term measures to decongest each of the 10 junctions where traffic snarls and accidents abound. The State government was to provide funds to remove bottlenecks at these junctions to widen them and implement free-left turns, while minimal land acquisition would be required to ensure that the junctions adhered to KIIFB norms, sources said.