Illegal parking and truck-based loading and unloading have caused severe congestion on the Muvattupuzha–Kothamangalam road in Muvattupuzha, with vehicles reportedly remaining stuck for hours in the town’s New Bazaar and Market Road areas.
The congestion was particularly severe on Monday, when lorries were parked on both sides of the road to unload goods. The affected stretch runs through a busy commercial zone that serves as a major market for the eastern parts of the region.
According to a report by Madhyamam, the New Bazaar and Market areas are located along the Muvattupuzha–Kothamangalam road. Vehicles are officially expected to be parked on only one side of the road while loading and unloading takes place. However, the report said goods are being unloaded in a manner intended to make work easier for workers, leaving vehicles on both sides of the carriageway and restricting movement.
The resulting Muvattupuzha traffic jam was reported from Monday morning, with the worst congestion extending from Everest Junction to Palli Junction. Vehicles were unable to move freely through the commercial corridor, and the disruption affected people travelling through the town as well as those accessing the market area.
The report cited the distance between Nehru Park and Keecherippady as an indication of the delay. Although the stretch is only about 500 metres long, travellers reportedly took up to 30 minutes to cover it during the congestion.
The incident highlights the difficulty of managing freight movement in a dense market corridor where commercial activity takes place directly alongside through traffic. Roadside loading and unloading reduces the available carriageway, while parking on both sides leaves limited space for vehicles to pass. In a busy town centre, even short interruptions can create queues that extend across adjoining junctions.
The affected section is also described as a location that experiences traffic congestion regularly. The report said there had been a proposal to ensure the presence of traffic police in the area, but that the service has not been consistently available. No further details about the proposal, its implementation status or any immediate enforcement action were provided in the report.
The report did not mention a new traffic-management order, a designated freight-loading window or a formal response from the police or local administration. For now, the immediate issue remains the continued use of both sides of the road for parking and goods unloading along the New Bazaar and Market Road corridor. The report identified the need for traffic-police deployment in the regularly congested area as a pending concern.
