Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Encroachments cleared in Park area

By K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI SEPT. 23. The Chennai Corporation has removed about 40 huts and identified the area surrounding Sriramulu Park in Loan Square, Broadway as a no-parking zone to facilitate free movement of vehicles.

About ten days ago, the officials of zone 2 carried out the operation in the area with police security, following a notification from the Madras High Court that granted permission to the corporation to remove encroachments and demarcate the area near the park as a no-parking zone.

According to corporation sources, the area surrounding the park had been converted as a parking zone for about 70 lorries and vans, which caused hindrance to the vehicular movement in the already congested area. Due to the haphazard parking of the vehicles that encroached on the road space, the motorists who used the roads surrounding the park including Amberson Street, Anna Pillai Street, Prakasam Street had to suffer traffic bottlenecks, they added.

S. Murugesan who works in a private company on Prakasam Salai said as the lorries occupied most of the road space in the South Market Lane that connects Amberson Street and Prakasam Salai, the motorists had limited access to the road. After the removal of encroachments, traffic congestion in the area had decreased, he added.

However, the members of Chennai City Van Owners Associations and the people who were evicted complained that they were yet to be provided with an alternative site.

A lorry driver, M. Kannappan, said, "We have to park our vehicles in the by lanes in Broadway as there is not enough parking space allotted for heavy vehicles in the area."

Regarding the provision of an alternative site, a corporation official said due to space constraint in the city, the corporation had not identified an alternative space for the parking lot as of now.

He also added that the corporation had also taken steps to reduce the pavement space to overcome the problem of encroachments by hawkers and kiosks in Anna Pillai Street. Moreover, measures have been taken to maintain cleanliness in the area by adopting door-to-door garbage collection in the market area, he said.

Such steps would be taken in other parts of the area to ensure a clean environment and free flow of traffic, he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Another boy run over by school van near house
• No step yet to protect Pallikaranai marsh
• World Bank team may visit TN next month
• Post Offices to provide credit to SHGs
• Telecom employees stage demonstration
• Laminated licences for motorists
• Earth caves in, workers rescued
• Encroachments cleared in Park area
• Caution against use of high decibel fireworks
• Corporation notice to Shanthi Builders justified: HC

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu