Kochi's digital master boards raise safety concerns at junctions

Digital master boards are proliferating at junctions across Kochi, raising concerns among traffic police, residents' associations and non-governmental organisations about road safety and pedestrian movement. The development comes even as the Kochi Corporation has ordered the removal of advertisement and flex boards that obstructed the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

Traffic police officials said most of the towering boards, roughly 1.50 metres wide, have been erected at bottlenecked junctions where little or no space is demarcated for free-left turns. This, they said, frequently worsens traffic hold-ups. The boards also encroach on footpaths and pedestrian pathways, impeding the safe movement of pedestrians.

K.S. Dileep Kumar, president of Ernakulam Vikasana Samithi, said electric and telecom or internet cable posts were already a safety hazard for road users, particularly at junctions. Vendors and other encroachers continue to occupy footpath space despite multiple Kerala High Court orders directing civic agencies to clear them, he added. He described the Corporation's digital master boards, installed to display advertisements at junctions, as the last straw. Most of these very tall and wide boards create blind spots by hampering the view of drivers and pedestrians, he said.

Such boards have come up at junctions on M.G. Road, including Madhava Pharmacy Junction, and on Rajaji Road, he added. Mr. Dileep Kumar said he had earlier this year submitted a complaint to the Corporation about the issue, as well as about bus shelters and bunk shops that occupy the entire width of footpaths and force pedestrians onto the road.

Corporation officials said steps would be taken to remove or relocate such boards if they posed a safety hazard and hampered the movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

P.M. Naseema, chairperson of the town planning standing committee of the Kochi Corporation, said college students are conducting a survey on the type of master board — digital, LED and others — that can be placed at junctions. The road safety implications ought to be looked into, she said. Although the decision to install the boards was taken well over a year ago, the ideal spots had not been decided. Complaints about one such board in front of Subhash Bose Park led the Corporation to issue notice to the firm concerned, asking it to inform the Town Planning Committee in advance.

Ms. Naseema said complaints and concerns would be looked into and a decision taken at the earliest. The master boards were apparently conceived to inform the public about civic matters, with advertisements mooted to generate revenue. The firm concerned has already been directed to change its design, since the boards are far too big and need better aesthetics, she added.