No roads, pavements in expanded city

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When asked about pedestrian space on roads, residents of suburban Nanganallur, Ullagaram, Puzhuthivakkam, Madipakkam and Keelkattalai, areas now annexed to the city corporation, say that they have forgotten what a proper pavement looks like.

Residents like accountant Baskar Irudayaraj of Ullagaram say, “Show me a proper road first”. His anger is justified for such is the nature of roads and footpaths in several areas there.

The residents’ complaints are proof of the authorities’ indifference towards pedestrians and commuter safety in the local bodies merged with Chennai corporation early last year.

“Scary” and “Nightmarish” are perhaps appropriate descriptions of a pedestrian experience on Medavakkam High Road and Puzhuthivakkam High Road.

“You don’t know when a two-wheeler will hit you from behind. If a pedestrian is careless even for a moment, he/she risks meeting with an accident,” complained bank clerk Hemalatha Chandrasekar of Keelkattalai who sustained a hairline fracture last month when a reckless motorist hit her near Oil Mill stop.

While the interior roads witness relatively less traffic, the main roads of Medavakkam and Puzhuthivakkam are mostly jam packed and there’s hardly any space for pedestrians to walk.

Pedestrians are forced to stand precariously close to the open drains or climb on the stairs of elevated roadside shops when two buses cross each other on the road, said local shopkeeper Mazhar Ahmed recalling how an elderly man had lost his balance and fallen into an open sewer while trying to avoid traffic near the Kumaran Theatre area.

Like other parts of the city, vendors often eat into the road space here too. They put up stalls alongside the road and force pedestrians walk amid traffic, thereby jeopardizing public safety as well as obstructing traffic flow, pointed out homemaker Beula Johnson of Madipakkam Coot Road.

The area shopkeepers have to take a fair share of the blame for allowing their customers to park vehicles in front of the shops and allowing heavy vehicles to offload goods for their shops on the narrow and busy roads.

Underground drainage and water pipe works have started in these areas only now. Many parts of Madipakkam, Ullagaram and Keelkattalai still do not get piped water supply from Chennai Metro Water. “I cannot imagine when they will lay proper roads and pavements,” wondered M.B. Ashiq, a garment shop owner.