While the authorities were waiting for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to open Kochi’s Vyttila flyover this Saturday, scores of motorists in the city drove on the newly constructed structure, unaware that it is ‘not’ yet open for traffic. The startling incident happened after unidentified persons removed barricades placed on the bridge and allowed traffic from one end of the flyover towards the Edapally area. The incident paved way for a major traffic jam in the region, police officials have booked leaders of a people’s group in the city, named V4Kerala for allegedly opening the barricades.
The incident happened around 7.30 pm on Tuesday when some persons removed the barricades that were put on one end of the flyover. But the vehicles which rushed through the flyover soon after this were stuck as the other end of the flyover was still blocked. Police soon rushed to the spot, trying to end the serpentine traffic block.
Following this, on Tuesday night, officials of Maradu police station took leaders of V4Kerala, including its chief Nipun Cherian and three others, into custody. According to reports, police have registered FIR against four persons, under sections of damaging public property, trespassing and rioting. V4Kerala is a people’s group that got launched last year and they had contested in Kochi Corporation limits in the recently held local body polls.
Vyttila, the region where the flyover is located is the most crucial traffic hotspot in Kochi, that connects the suburbs and the city centre. Construction for the flyover located along the National Highway 66 in Vyttila began in 2017. Though initially it was slated to be opened for traffic by 2019 January, the work got delayed and was presently fixed to be inaugurated on Saturday. Opening of the flyover, will be a major relief to motorists, who are already plagued by heavy traffic in the region due to the Palarivattom flyover on the same highway shutting down.
Watch video: Vehicles passing through Vyttila flyover
Meanwhile, V4Kerala has denied the allegation that they were respinsible for the incident.
“On December 31, we held a protest gathering asking to open the flyover soon. But as the government then announced that it will be opened on January 9, we were waiting for it,” a representative of the group told TNM.
On Wednesday morning, members of V4Kerala protested in front of the Maradu police station, alleging that police had wrongfully confined their leaders.The incident escalated as few members of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), youth wing of CPI(M), reached the spot and had an argument with V4Kerala members. To pacify the situation, a large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area.
Watch video of the protest: