Pitch dark bypass stretch leading to road accidents

KOZHIKODE: The road accident on Sunday that killed two children and left two others injured near the Thondayad bypass junction has thrown the spotlight on the poor state of the Ramanattukara-Pooladikunnu NH 17 bypass.
Adarsh (7) and Goutham Krishna (10) were killed when a jeep rammed into the rear side of the motorcycle on which they were travelling.
The kid's father Gopakumar and his daughter Arathi (12) were injured and are being treated at the medical college hospital. The police are looking for the jeep which left the accident scene without stopping.
As many as 17 lives were lost in accidents in the stretch last year. In the last five months itself nine lives were lost in various accidents on the stretch.
Traffic inspector A V Pradeep said that most fatal accidents took place during nights and the main reason for this is the absence of streetlights on the 23-km-long stretch of the bypass, which was opened for traffic 10 years ago.
"We had written to the corporation and the national highway authorities several times to install street lights but nothing has happened so far. Also the straight road is an open invitation for road rage," he said.
Traffic police sources said that though they have deployed mobile radar units to check speeding vehicles, it is not effective during night.
The heavy volume of traffic on the bypass, a major route for vehicles proceeding to and from the Karipur Airport and the medical college, is another reason for the recurring mishaps. Impediments in land acquisition have also delayed NHAI project to turn the highway into a four-lane road.
Saji Kumar, a resident of Jawahar Nagar near the bypass, said the road is a blind stretch in the night.
"More accidents will take place unless the government takes steps to build flyovers in the junctions at Malapparamba, Thondayad and Eranhipalam," he said.
Sasikumar PN, executive engineer, NH Division of the public works department, blamed the civic body for not installing street lights in the bypass stretch.
Corporation mayor AK Premajam said the civic body is yet to take a decision on the issue. "We have to formulate a project and find funding for the project," she said.