Chinnakada

Chinnakada ചിന്നക്കട Chinnakkada
Neighbourhood
A night view of Chinnakada
Chinnakada Location in Kerala, India
Coordinates: 8°53′13″N 76°35′28″E / 8.887°N 76.591°E / 8.887; 76.591Coordinates: 8°53′13″N 76°35′28″E / 8.887°N 76.591°E / 8.887; 76.591
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Kollam
Government
• Body	Kollam Municipal Corporation(KMC)
Languages
• Official	Malayalam, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	691001
Vehicle registration	KL-02
Lok Sabha constituency	Kollam
Civic agency	Kollam Municipal Corporation
Avg. summer temperature	34 °C (93 °F)
Avg. winter temperature	22 °C (72 °F)
Website	http://www.kollam.nic.in

Chinnakada (Malayalam: ചിന്നക്കട) or Chinnakkada is considered as the heart of the city of Kollam, in the state of Kerala, India. Chinnakada is one of the major junctions in the city where National Highways – NH 66 (Earlier NH 47) meets NH 744 (Earlier NH 208). The symbol of the city Clock tower is situated at Chinnakada.

Because of the presence of a huge traffic circle in the junction, it became as one of the busiest junctions in the city. To reduce the traffic congestion in Chinnakada, Kollam Municipal Corporation is now constructing a new underpass near to the clock tower.^[1] Marine Products Export Development Authority(MPEDA)'s Kollam sub-regional office is situated at Chinnakada.^[2]

History of Chinnakada

The ancient Kollam city was one of the famous Chinese trade centers.^[3] The name Chinnakada could be derived from the word China-Kada, which means China Bazaar(Chinese market). Another story is that, a lot of Tamilians were there at Kollam so they gave the name 'Chinnakada' which means Small Market in Tamil. That stands complementary to the Valiakada adjacent to Chinnakada, which means Big Market in Malayalam.^[4]

Kollam's famous places' names ending with 'Kada'

Chinnakada
Kadappakada
Payikkada
Pullikada
Valiyakada

Chinnakada Underpass

Aerial view of Chinnakada during 2008

Chinnakada underpass is a public road infrastructure project which is under construction in the city of Kollam. The project is coming up as a scheme of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to ease traffic congestion at Chinnakada.^[5] The presence of an existing Railway over bridge (RoB) and three close intersections with heavy traffic, limits the option for traffic management measures including junction improvement. Hence construction of an underpass has been proposed to reduce the traffic circulation problem and congestion at this area. Chinnakada is a complex junction where roads from Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Sengottai, Ashramam, Kollam Beach, Downtown Kollam and City bus stand road meets.

Height of the road passage in the project had been increased into 5.5 meters from 5 meters for providing smooth movement of modern container trucks through the underpass. The preliminary design prepared by NATPAC for the underpass. 0.08 ha of Government land had been acquired temporarily for the project.^[6] Kollam Corporation is expecting that the construction works will be over by September 2014.^[7]