Thiruvananthapuram: The prolonged failure of traffic signals at Pettah Junction has led to traffic congestion, prompting the city corporation to plan a meeting with Smart City Thiruvananthapuram officials to discuss the issue.A Smart City source acknowledged that the signals remained defunct and said the matter had been taken up with the contractor responsible for maintenance. The main contractor had engaged a subcontractor to carry out the work, but around Rs 25 lakh remained pending in payments to the subcontractor.“The contractor has been asked to resolve the issue and ensure that the signals resume functioning,” the source said, adding that the problem would be resolved.With the signals out of order, traffic police personnel have been regulating vehicle movement manually, particularly during peak hours. Long queues of vehicles have inconvenienced commuters travelling towards the airport and NH 47.Corporation secretary J Muhamed Shafi said the signal failure had become a major cause of congestion.Smart City Thiruvananthapuram is responsible for maintaining the city’s traffic signals under an arrangement that runs until 2029.Four traffic police personnel are currently deployed at Petta Junction. South zone traffic assistant commissioner K B Manoj Kumar said they could be assigned other duties once the signals were restored.
