Two days after the State government assured the Kerala High Court to seek a report from the Ernakulam District Collector on the sorry state of Palarivattom-Kakkanad Civil Line Road, the critical stretch seems orphaned with Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and the Public Works department (PWD), the original custodian of the road, putting the onus of its upkeep on each other.

Amid the mutual abdication of responsibility by the agencies, motorists, pedestrians, and the trading community continue to suffer as the road, which has been a dust bowl during the summer, has now turned into a bog with the onset of the monsoon.

KMRL sources claimed that, except for the patchworks being done for free to smooth the traffic, the agency neither had the responsibility nor the resources for the upkeep of the entire road. This, it said, remains the responsibility of the original custodian of the road, in this case, the PWD.

The PWD, on its part, claimed that it had handed over the road to KMRL more than a year ago when the second phase of the metro work to Infopark was launched. “The maintenance of the road will be their responsibility till the metro work on the stretch is completed. They will have to return the road freshly surfaced. We have asked the metro agency to rectify the existing damage on the road as and when there is a let-up in rain,” said PWD sources.

Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas said the upkeep of the road was indeed the responsibility of KMRL. “They [KMRL] have put up barricades through the entire stretch blocking out even U-turns, making it a nightmare especially for the likes of the elderly who come to drop their grandchildren at bus stops. I have raised all these concerns with KMRL repeatedly, and they have agreed to address them. If the upkeep of the road was not their responsibility, why would they volunteer to do it?” she said.

The road where the second phase expansion of the Kochi metro to Infopark is under way came under the radar when the amicus curiae on June 26 brought it to the notice of the Kerala High Court in the context of an accident that killed a 22-year-old man on a motorcycle while trying to avoid a pothole on M.G. Road in Thrissur, while also seriously injuring his mother earlier this month.

Justice Devan Ramachandran, quoting the amicus curiae, said that similar incidents were waiting to happen even in Kochi city, where most of the roads are riddled with potholes, which turn waterlogged during the monsoon, leaving motorists vulnerable. In this context, the court referred to Civil Line Road, observing how it had become impossible to navigate. Consequently, senior government pleader K.V. Manoj submitted to obtain a report from the District Collector on the matter, while also saying that the road was now under the control of KMRL.