(image:x.com/kcvenugopalmp)

Kerala: Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal has urged the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to address the severe traffic jams on national highways in Kerala, which are a result of ongoing construction projects. He wrote to NHAI chairperson Santosh Kumar Yadav to request immediate intervention.

Congress MP from Alappuzha has also requested Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to send more police officers to manage traffic on the highways. He underlines the urgency of the situation by highlighting the long delays faced by travellers, citing examples like the Ernakulam-Thuravoor and Edappally-Thrissur stretches.

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“The situation has worsened due to continuous rains and subsequent waterlogging,” the Congress MP said.

Venugopal strongly criticised the NHAI, claiming it has failed to maintain service roads, manage traffic effectively, and ensure safety at construction sites. He also mentioned that he had previously brought up his concerns about the poor state of service roads in these areas in his role as the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Venugopal also pointed out that the NHAI ignored the concerns raised in the PAC’s interim report about its failures, and still did not act to fix the issues.

Congress MP mentioned that Kerala high court has suspended toll collection at Paliyekkara plaza on NH544 in Thrissur for four weeks, criticising NHAI’s failure to resolve the severe traffic congestion along the Edappally–Mannuthy stretch of the highway.

Venugopal highlighted that the Supreme Court, following the High Court, had also criticised the NHAI to continue toll collection when they had not yet improved the necessary infrastructure.

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In his letter, the Congress leader pointed out serious failures in construction, pointing to recent accidents such as the falling of an iron beam at the Aroor-Thuravoor elevated highway construction site a few days ago, and the collapse of a girder at the same location last month as examples.

Venugopal has demanded the Kerala government to act quickly to improve traffic flow. He repeated his call for more police officers to be assigned to manage traffic, specifically in the construction areas on NH 66 (Ernakulam-Aroor-Thuravoor) and NH 544 (Edappally-Thrissur).

(With inputs from The Hindu)