The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Traffic goes haywire as lorry overturns on Sardar Patel Road

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Traffic goes haywire as lorry overturns on Sardar Patel Road

By P. Oppili

CHENNAI, JULY 22. Traffic on Sardar Patel Road, near Madhya Kailas, Adyar, and Taramani Road, was disrupted for more than five hours on Thursday morning after a concrete-mixing lorry overturned and jack-knifed across the road.

According to the police, around 1.30 a.m. the 23-tonne lorry, laden with the mixture of cement, sand and blue metal, entered the Sardar Patel Road at high speed from Taramani Road.

Lost control

While turning, the driver lost control, hit the median and damaged a telephone pole. While the damaged front portion of the lorry protruded on the Madhya Kailas side, the rear part fell on the other side of the road, leaving very little space for Adyar and Taramani-bound vehicles.

The police arrested Selvaraj, the lorry driver, who escaped unhurt. Bharathi, the cleaner, suffered minor injuries and was treated as out patient at a Government hospital.

As the lorry could not be removed before peak hour, traffic piled up till Raj Bhavan to the west, up to Adyar signal in the east and a part of the Taramani Road.

More than a dozen policemen had to be deployed to regulate traffic at the junction. For sometime they stopped vehicles from entering Taramani Road. Except heavy vehicles, all the other motorists were asked to take a `U' turn at the junction.

Around 10 a.m. the police brought a 25 tonne-capacity crane to the spot with another smaller crane. An iron `rope' was tied around the belly of the fallen mixer and connected to the crane. The first attempt by the huge crane to lift the vehicle failed. The crane was then moved further away and the vehicle was brought upright around 11 a.m. In about 10 minutes, the smaller crane towed the lorry to a corner of the road restoring normality on the stretch.

Lack of cooperation

Lack of cooperation from motorists was evident at the junction. Even after a request from the police, many two-wheeler riders tried to negotiate the signal. But the police asked them to go 100 yards further down to take a `U' turn. Many of them did so only reluctantly.

A senior police officer said the non-availability of appropriate cranes with the police to lift such a huge vehicle was a major handicap that led to the traffic pile-up. The small cranes deployed failed and by the time they identified the right type of crane, brought it to the spot and brought the truck to normal position, the traffic had gone haywire. Four years ago, a concrete mixer had similarly overturned near the junction of Taramani-Velacheri Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road due to speeding, police added.

The accident and resultant pile-up highlights the need for better traffic management systems on this congested stretch. Thousands of vehicles use the stretch everyday, especially after the advent of the `Information Technology corridor' and the MRTS line. Regular road users hope that the work to widen Tarmani Road-Old Mamallapuram Road will proceed faster and pedestrian crossings will be marked on the Taramani Road.

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