Decade-old civic woes irk T Nagar residents

CHENNAI: Last week when advocate P Venugopal's grandmother passed away, the ambulance could not enter Motilal street in T Nagar to take her body for cremation. All because of illegally parked vehicles blocking the way, says Venugopal. "I had to call the police but even they could not do anything. My grandmother was a resident of T Nagar for 60 years but I couldn't give her an honorable burial," he says.
Residents of T Nagar are at the mercy of traders, hawkers and illegally parked vehicles, says Venugopal, a long-time resident.Encroachments, illegal parking, hawkers, unmanageable traffic and high noise levels have been troubling the residents for the past decade.
Even the Usman road flyover that was built three years ago to ease traffic only seems to have added to their woes. "The flyover has reduced the space for walking. It seems to serve no purpose to the residents," says VS Jayaraman, joint secretary of Federation of T Nagar residents. Some residents have decided to boycott the upcoming election because they feel nothing has been done, either by the candidates or the police for their welfare.
"Everyone seems to cater to the needs of the traders and shoppers, but it is us residents who have to live here," says Jayaraman. Even development projects such as the Rangarajapuram flyover, which should help ease the traffic situation, have been in a limbo for years, say residents. The work on the flyover started in 2008 but is yet to be completed. Candidates of both parties blame each other for the delay. "As the sitting MLA for T Nagar is from AIADMK, work has been slow and money sanctioned for the project is not being used properly," says Congress candidate and former MLA, S Chellakumar.
The AIADMK candidate, VP Kalairajan, says that all his suggestions to ease traffic bottlenecks in T Nagar have been turned down by the government. "I suggested multi-level parking lots, expansion of the existing bus stand, and regulation of traffic, but all have been turned down," he says. He also adds that unless experts and city planners were consulted to solve the problems facing T Nagar, no solutions could be reached. "The Rangarajapuram flyover is taking time because it is a collaborative effort between Southern Railway and Chennai corporation. It will be done in six months," he says.