Alappuzha: Pedestrians along the Kommady AS Canal Road are being forced to navigate a treacherous route, as dislodged paveAlappuzha: Pedestrians along the Kommady AS Canal Road are being forced to navigate a treacherous route, as dislodged pavement tiles and a caved-in culvert wall pose an imminent safety hazard. On the stretch running from the eastern bank of the Kommady Bridge toward Poppy Bridge, the interlocking tiles laid along the roadside have completely come apart. Compounding the danger, the western retaining wall of an adjacent culvert has collapsed, sending stones plunging into the canal.

The cave-in occurred right next to a private school. Ironically, this stretch had previously been earmarked for development into a lively 'Night Street' modelled after Thiruvananthapuram’s Manaveeyam Veedhi. Today, far from being a model urban corridor, basic pedestrian safety lies in ruins.

According to local residents, the damage began when the canal’s stone retaining wall started giving way. Gaps in the masonry allowed the sub-base sand beneath the footpath to erode and wash into the canal, structurally undermining the protective wall and causing the pavement to sink. Visible cracks have also surfaced along several stretches. Shockingly, the entire structure has begun crumbling less than a year after its construction.

With hundreds of people, including young schoolchildren and the elderly, relying on this walkway every day, residents and pedestrians have urged the authorities to intervene and carry out emergency repairs before a serious accident occurs.