The Kerala High Court has modified an order issued by it a month ago that traffic police personnel could be deployed at junctions on arterial stretches in Kochi, like Banerjee Road-Palarivattom and Pallimukku-Vyttila corridors, instead of relying on signal lights in such locales, to lessen traffic congestion.
The court, in a recent directive, said that in the absence of traffic islands at such junctions, it would be very difficult for traffic police personnel to manage traffic manually by switching off traffic lights. They would also be unable to monitor the long queues of vehicles in different directions.
In order to provide relief to the prevailing traffic congestion, the police had introduced a hybrid mode – manually switching off traffic signals during peak hours. This is fair and justified, much less viable, the court said and modified the interim order it had issued on August 27 seeking deployment of police personnel at junctions.
The High Court had, in the interim order, also directed the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to take effective steps to prevent reckless driving by private buses in Kochi. The court had also expressed angst at the RTA meeting not being convened, although it had ordered on August 8 to convene it within a fortnight.
Published – September 24, 2025 01:36 am IST
