Traffic signals at Pettah Junction in Thiruvananthapuram have remained defunct, causing congestion on routes towards the airport and NH 47 and prompting the city corporation to plan a meeting with Smart City Thiruvananthapuram officials over the delayed repairs.
A Smart City source acknowledged that the signals were not functioning and said the issue had been taken up with the contractor responsible for maintenance. The main contractor had engaged a subcontractor to carry out the work, but around Rs 25 lakh in payments to the subcontractor remained pending, according to the source.
“The contractor has been asked to resolve the issue and ensure that the signals resume functioning,” the source said, adding that the problem would be resolved. The source did not specify a date by which the signals would be restored.
With the junction’s signal system out of order, traffic police personnel have been manually regulating vehicle movement, particularly during peak hours. The arrangement has resulted in long queues and inconvenience for commuters travelling towards the airport and NH 47, two important routes connected to the junction.
Thiruvananthapuram corporation secretary J Muhamed Shafi said the signal failure had become a major cause of congestion at Pettah Junction. The corporation is expected to take up the matter with Smart City officials, who are responsible for maintaining the city’s traffic signals under an arrangement that runs until 2029.
Four traffic police personnel are currently deployed at the junction to manage traffic manually. South zone traffic assistant commissioner K B Manoj Kumar said the personnel could be assigned other duties once the signals were restored, indicating that the failure is also placing additional demands on traffic management resources.
The maintenance arrangement has therefore linked the restoration of a basic traffic-control system to coordination between the corporation, Smart City Thiruvananthapuram, the main contractor and its subcontractor. The immediate operational issue remains the return of the signals to service so that vehicle movement can again be regulated automatically at the junction.
Smart City officials have asked the contractor to address the payment-related issue and complete the work required to restore the signals. The corporation’s proposed meeting with Smart City officials is the next reported step in resolving the disruption.
