There seems to be no end in sight for accidents caused by ill-lit and haphazardly parked container lorries on Container Road as lorry operators and Cochin Port Trust are on different pages on the issue.
Lorry drivers cite lack of foresight by the port in not earmarking adequate parking space in the vicinity of Vallarpadam container transhipment terminal, though the terminal was commissioned three years ago. Port officials claim apace was not allotted as there is a huge parking lot in Wellingdon Island which is now under utilised.
“Lorries parked carelessly on either side and sometimes partly on tarred surface of Container Road and on the Kundanoor-Mattancherry BOT Bridge Road are persistent threats to motorists. Accidents can be prevented if they are parked at the designated pay-and-park ground in the island. With the pavement and road shoulder occupied by lorries, pedestrians who walk along the tarred surface stand the risk of being knocked down by vehicles,” they said.
If parked in the pay and park lot, these lorries can be transported to and from Vallarpadam in the ro-ro (roll in, roll out) vessel that operates between the two islands every hour, whenever consignment arrives. This arrangement can continue till port establishes a parking lot in Vallarpadam, the officials said.
District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam had banned lorry parking on Container Road over a month ago following a spate of fatal and other accidents involving lorries. The Motor Vehicles’ Department and traffic police too wrote to port authorities to provide adequate parking space in its premises so that lorries are not parked on the road. National Highways Authority of India, which built the road too is wary of frequent accidents caused by parked lorries.
Apart from posing threat to road users due to haphazard parking, most lorries parked on the stretch where street lights are absent do not have reflectors and parking lights. Some have hidden number plates and it is difficult to trace them if they are involved in hit-and-run accidents.
Others have separate registration number for the driver cabin and trailer.
Tomy Thomas, secretary of Cochin Container Carrier Owners’ Welfare Association said that a maximum of 50 containers can be parked in an acre of land.
“No one will come forward to operate a huge pay and park area unless the port grants concessions on rent, which will in turn ensure ‘reasonable’ parking fee. Lorry operators may not be willing to pay parking fee of over Rs 150 per day,” he said.
