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On GST Road, death stalks motorists

By Our Staff Reporter

TAMBARAM, JAN. 25. The accident involving a call taxi and a lorry at Chromepet early on Sunday morning is the latest in a series of tragic incidents on the Grand Southern Trunk Road.

Residents say that speeding, rash driving and the absence of a concerted effort by various government agencies are to be blamed.

They say that despite being a high-risk stretch, authorities have done little done to improve safety on the GST Road between Kathipara and Tambaram. Soon after Sunday's accident that killed two persons on the spot — both of them travelling in the call taxi — residents staged a spontaneous protest.

More than a dozen residents, mostly belonging to New Colony and nearby areas, raised slogans against the government's negligence. Residents said a third of the nearly 500 people killed annually in road accidents in the Chengai East police district perished on the GST Road.

This Sunday's accident took place near the construction site of the flyover near the Madras Institute of Technology Gate, Chromepet, residents said. Several accidents have taken place in the same area.

Pressing problems

Office-bearers of the New Colony Residents Welfare Association said there were three pressing problems — lack of a centre median, poor illumination and accumulation of sand on the edges of the road. They said the GST Road suddenly narrows down near the construction site of the flyover. And in the absence of proper lighting, the area is pitch dark at night. With no signboards or reflectors, drivers tend to lose control.

They also said that had there was no centre median for about 200 metresand that accumulated sand had eaten up at least 10 feet of road space on either sides. Residents said they had brought the matter to the attention of officials belonging to the National and State Highways departments, the local body and every other agency concerned. But there has been no action at all. While the Pallavaram Municipality removed the sand, as it was beyond their means to sustain the effort. They said government agencies were spending hundreds of crores on improving highways, but was giving scant attention to road safety.

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