I was asleep when a voice woke me up – “It’s 8′O clock!” What!!! It was another bright day and I was still sleeping. I jumped off my bed to get ready for office, though my work starts at 10 and it hardly takes me an hour to get ready for work, but I don’t want to take any chance gambling with the “traffic of Kochi”. This is a daily scene in almost every home in Kochi (Cochin).
The commercial capital of God’s Own Country, Kochi has witnessed a huge transformation in almost all aspects in the recent years. Not only political changes, but in the past five years the city has developed a lot in terms of its population, construction, and even transportation, adding to the traffic congestion. The narrow roads and unscientifically constructed pedestrian walks do have messed up the condition more for the Kochiites.
Figures have proved that the traffic of Kochi is increasing constantly at a rate of 333% each year. Another factor is the continuous rise in the number of four wheelers in the city roads adding to the woes of common man. Official records have also pointed out that about 5.5 lakh vehicles ply in Kochi and the number keeps on growing. It is also seen that about 2000 vehicles are registered in the city limit a month, out of which 85 per cent are private vehicles. The vehicles are rising in a geometric progression trend but the infrastructure is falling short to bridge the gap.
The peak of the time, between 9am to 11am remains the most high time with office goers, students, businessmen and workers all rushing for their work place. Amidst this a screaming ambulance finds its really tough to somehow manage to squeeze its way out from the bottleneck.
Traffic block has become a common scene in Kochi and the Kochiites are used to this daily. Amidst all this the poor and dilapidated condition of the city road do make life really miserable for commuters. Though the plans are in the offing for starting a sky bus service in order to curb the traffic problem but at large the administration seems really cold on this raging issue.
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