The court establishes the necessity for timely governmental action to enhance public safety in light of urban traffic congestion.

JUDGMENT :

Nitin Jamdar, C.J.

The Petitioners have filed this Public Interest Litigation, highlighting the traffic congestion around the East Fort area of Thiruvananthapuram City.

2. The East Fort area is a hub for commercial, transportation and recreational activities in the city. It has Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, city bus terminal, and a market and criss-cross movement of pedestrians on the roads, along with public transport buses operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), and the private buses terminate at East Fort area. The Petitioners have stated the high volume of bus maneuvers and frequent pedestrian crossings have led to numerous fatalities. It is stated that around 800 public transport buses and 100 private buses operate trips to East Fort daily, with nearly two lakh passengers passing through the area and about one lakh devotees visiting the temple each day. A large number of individuals depend on bus schedules for their travel to and from the East Fort area. Petitioners with a grievance that, despite the urgent need for intervention, administrative apathy has resulted in continued hazardous situations prevailing in the East Fort area of Thiruvananthapuram city, have approached this Court seeking necessary directions to the Respondents to take steps to remedy the situation. The Petitioners have also sought for a direction in respect of erecting foot overbridges with escalators for the easy and safe movement of pedestrians at the East Fort area of Thiruvananthapuram city.

3. Heard Ms. Namitha Neethu Balachandran, learned counsel representing Mr. P. Rahul, learned counsel for the Petitioners, Mr. K.V. Manojkumar, learned Senior Government Pleader, Mr. Brejima Unnikrishnan, learned counsel representing Mr. Suman Chakravarthy, learned Standing Counsel for Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and Ms. Mitha Sudhindran, learned counsel representing Mr. Riji Rajendran, learned Standing Counsel for NATPAC.

4. The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), established by the Government of Kerala was asked to study the issue of traffic congestion in this area. The NATPAC conducted a detailed study of the area and proposed three-foot overbridges with escalators to facilitate safe and convenient movement of pedestrians and vehicles in the area. The one foot over bridge near the Attakulangara side and the second, from the KSRTC depot to Gandhi Park and the third, near Pazhavangadi temple. NATPAC recommended continuous pedestrian guard rails with limited openings, the creation of bus bays, relocation of street vendors and strong enforcement by the Police. In its Annual Report 2016-17, NATPAC has provided the background and the details and has also proposed various measures. The Report shows that the Cotton Hill Girls Higher Secondary School area, Vazhuthakkad, Pattom-Kesavadasapuram road and East Fort area are the three major pedestrian intense areas in Thiruvananthapuram city. As high pedestrian areas are located on the busy road corridors, the pedestrian movements severely affect the vehicular movement on the main roads apart from putting the pedestrians especially, school children at high safety risk. A pre-feasibility study was carried out for providing grade separated pedestrian facility at the three locations. Cotton Hill High School witnessed about 700 pedestrian cross movements during peak hours. About 3000 pedestrians cross during peak hours of St. Mary’s High School. Most of the public buses which include KSRTC as well as private buses have their destination at East Fort. The high number of bus maneuvers and heavy pedestrian zigzag crossing movements affects the