Chinnakada Chinnakkada | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates:8°53′13″N76°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 | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| 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 orChinnakkada is considered as the heart of thecity of Kollam inKerala,India. Chinnakada is a busy junction where 5 city roads and one National highway interconnect at a traffic roundabout. The city's symbolicclock tower is located in Chinnakada. To reduce thetraffic congestion in Chinnakada,Kollam Municipal Corporation constructed an underpass near to clock tower.[1]Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)'sKollam sub-regional office is situated at Chinnakada.[2]
The nameChinnakada may be derived fromChina-Kada, which means Chinabazaar. Chinese coins and other artefacts in enormous quantities were found near the Kollam port, proving Kollam was a significant Chinese trading hub.[3] Another explanation is that due to the presence of a large number ofTamil people in Kollam, they named the areaChinnakada, which means "small market" in theTamil language. This derivation fits with the toponomy ofValiakada adjacent to Chinnakada, which means "big market" inMalayalam.[4]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(May 2015) |
The ancient city ofKollam, then known as Quilon, was an important center for trade with theChinese.[5]
The Chinese traders were one of the oldest foreign communities to settle in Kollam. That was during 8th century AD or even before. That was during the period Kollam evolved as a major trade centre ( of spices ) and an important port in the Malabar coast. Chinnakada could be the corrupted form of China-Kada, means China Bazaar ( or Chinese market). That argument should be taken with a pinch of salt, as Chinnakkada also means small market (in Tamil). That stands complementary to the Valiakada adjacent to Chinnakada, which means big market in Malayalam.[6]
The Chinnakada Underpass is a public road infrastructure project for the city ofKollam as part of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project supported by theAsian Development Bank (ADB) to ease traffic congestion at Chinnakada, the cityCBD ofKollam.[7] The presence of an existing Railway over bridge and three close intersections with heavy traffic limits the option for traffic management measures including junction improvement. That caused the authorities to think about this underpass at Chinnakada. Chinnakada is a complex junction where roads fromThiruvananthapuram,Alappuzha,Downtown,Sengottai,Ashramam,Kollam Beach and theCity bus stand road meets.
Preliminary design for underpass was prepared by NATPAC (NATPAC - National Transportation Planning and Research Centre)[8] involving the acquisition of 0.08 hectares (0.20 acres) of government land on a temporary basis.[9] Height of the road passage above the underpass was increased to 5.5 metres (18 ft) from 5 metres (16 ft) to facilitate movement of modern container trucks through the underpass. Underpass has been thrown open to the public by the end of May 2015.[10][11]
