Sasthamangalam junction in the city witnessed hours-long traffic snarls on Saturday following an inordinate delay in removing the snapped branches of a banyan tree.
The branches, which snapped on Friday night, dangerously overhung one of the lanes, forcing the police to place a barricade and divert traffic.
As traffic slowed to a crawl on the roads leading off the busy junction on Saturday morning, Sasthamangalam ward councillor S. Madhusoodanan Nair launched a fund collection drive to hire a private party to cut down the branches alleging failure of State government machinery in handling the emergency.
This led to a standoff between the BJP councillor and Left workers who accused him of politicising the issue ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
V. K. Prasanth, MLA, who arrived on the scene, told reporters that government agencies were capable of handling the matter. He said that the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) had been tasked with removing the branches and that there was no need for a fund collection drive.
Shortly afterwards, the KRFB deployed a truck-mounted lift and workers to cut down the branches. Traffic normalcy at the junction was restored by 1.30 p.m.
According to Mr. Madhusoodanan Nair, he was forced to do launch the fund collection after multiple state government departments and agencies that he had contacted pleaded helplessness and lack of equipment to handle the case. “When we contacted a private party, they demanded ₹4,000. After the KRFB took charge of the work, the collected money (₹1,256) was donated to the Sree Chitra Home,” he said.
