A police officer in Kerala has been issued a show cause notice after allegations emerged that he was blocking off a portion of a road in Kochi for his morning walk, inconveniencing many residents living there. Residents have alleged that the road adjacent to the Queens Walkway in Kochi is blocked for vehicular traffic and that is when the Assistant Commissioner Police Traffic West, Vinod Pillai, comes to have his morning walk. Queens Walkway is a stretch of road which is usually cordoned off for morning walkers and joggers, but a road adjacent to the walkway has been blocked for the past three days, residents have said, which is causing them an inconvenience.

The police have said that the walkway is usually closed for traffic to help morning walkers and joggers, but the residents have said that the adjacent road has been blocked for the past three days and incidentally, that is when ACP Vinod Pillai comes for a morning walk.

Residents have said since the road is cordoned off from 5 am to 7.30 am every morning, children are being forced to board buses from the other side of the road, where traffic is also diverted. A social media user shared a picture of the road on social media on Thursday, June 16, which showed a red traffic barrier put up in the middle of the road, while another visual showed a car, a school bus and a parent guiding children on the same side of the road.

Dr Elizabeth George, one of the residents in the area, told TNM that officer Vinod Pillai maintains that he had issued an order that the road will be blocked for joggers and walkers to access the road easily. However, residents have pointed out that while Queens Walkway is meant for walkers and joggers, the police officer has been blocking a road adjacent to the walkway, and have asked that school buses should be allowed to come.

ACP Vinop Pillai on his morning walk

“We are not against stopping vehicular traffic for walking and jogging, but at least school buses and emergency vehicles should be allowed. When a school bus is made to use only one side, with traffic from both sides and children in between, it possesses a big safety risk to the kids,” she said. The children have to board the bus during this time in the morning, by crossing the road standing on a median. “We have found snakes earlier near the median. It is covered with plants,” Elizabeth pointed out.

TNM reached out to the officer, ACP Vinod Pillai denied residents’ allegations and said that the road was part of the Queen’s Walkway in Kochi, and it is normally closed off on Sundays to help joggers. “We haven’t closed the road any other days. It's part of Queens Walkway,” he told TNM.

The residents, however, have countered the officer and said that for the past three days, they have had to face difficulties in their daily commutes. Several residents in the apartment are doctors, they say, who will have to take a longer route to the hospital if there is an emergency during this time period.

“When the officer, Vinod Pillai, came for a walk yesterday [Wednesday, June 15], I asked him directly. He said there is an order and the officials have discussed it with the secretary of our apartment. When we checked, there were no such discussions. After this, some representatives of our apartment met him at his office but they were told that the road will continue to be blocked but the police can help children board the bus from the other side.”