Pedestrians walk the plank here

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Kochi: Pedestrians have a tough time moving through Tripunithura town, thanks to business establishments encroaching into tiny roads and heavy traffic.
To make matters worse, the work on the footpath has not commenced despite the Municipality allocating Rs 30 lakh for the purpose over a year ago.
The worst-affected stretch is from Market Junction to Poornathrayeshwari Temple, wherein for most of the stretch one can witness business establishments encroaching road sides. “A pedestrian cannot walk without stepping on to the road. There are many incidents when people were hit by vehicles at Kizhakekkota. Another dangerous spot is before Jos Textiles. Even fast and superfast services use the tiny roads and traffic jams are a routine affair during peak hours,” V.C. Jayendran, Secretary, Tripunithura  Rajanagari Union of Residents’ Association (TRURA), said.                                             
When contacted, Tripunithura Municipality Chairman R. Venugopal said the work to set up footpaths would begin in a week’s time. “We’ll first take up the stretch from NM Texti-les to Statue Jn for which the direction has been given. We’ve also identified certain canals which would be cleaned and footpaths built over them. One is the Edamana Jetty-NSS school and the other the one at mini-bypass,” he said.
He, however, rued that funds sanctioned is way too small to complete the works. Efforts were on to find more financial sources.