Authorities cautious as HC reveals its stand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The observation made by the Kerala High Court on Tuesday that statues are not ideal for traffic islands and medians should bring smiles to the faces of road developers in the city. Many statues and busts have been installed at busy junctions ignoring the opinion of road agencies that these structures obstruct the vision of motorists. A recent example is the statue of K R Elankath at Sasthamangalam Junction, which was put up to the dismay of the Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Corporation Ltd (TRDCL). And more statues are in the ‘queue.’ Annie Mascrene will grace the Women’s College Junction at Vazhuthacaud, while former Speaker Varkala Radhakrishnan and former Chief Minister K Karunakaran are to be honoured with statues at General Hospital Junction and near the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium respectively, PWD officials said. ‘’There are still more demands. But since the HC has made such an observation, we will require a clarification from the State Government on installing statues on PWD roads,’’ a senior PWD official said. TRDCL, on the other hand, has been courting trouble for some time because of its stand on statues. ‘’We objected to installing the statue of K R Elankath. It obstructs vision,’’ said TRDCL chief Anil Kumar Pandala. The biggest row it got into, however, was over the Ayyankali Square at Vellayambalam, which has a full-size statue of social reformer Ayyankali. An attempt to redesign the square as a traffic island with signal lights kicked up such a huge row that the TRDCL backed off. In beautifying the Panavila Junction also, the TRDCL got into trouble. A group of people  objected to removing the bust of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Junction, but TRDCL finally coaxed a ‘no objection’ by promising that the bust would be re-installed in a better manner. ‘’Installing statues in public places prevents future development activities. People also begin congregating at such places, resulting in crowds at busy junctions,’’ Pandala said. There are also Supreme Court rulings against the installation of statues in public places.