The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Readers Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 27, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Readers Mail

Reduce airport parking fee

I am a frequent visitor of Chennai Airport. On a visit to the airport on March 15, I paid Rs. 50/- as parking fee to the licensee of the Airports Authority of India. When I went to the airport again on March 22, I was shocked to find that the parking fee had been hiked to Rs. 60/- without any justification. Last year the fee was 30/- and now it is 60/-. There has been a 100 per cent increase in parking fees. The increase is done silently without informing the public through the media. The Airports Authority of India is a government body, and it should not effect fees increase in an arbitrary manner. Will the AAI come forward to reduce the car parking fees to Rs. 30? They should also notify increases if any in the dailies for the benefit of public.

V. Santhanam,

president,

Chromepet New Colony Residents Welfare Society

Welcome change

at RTO

I had a pleasant experience when I visited R.T.O., Chennai (West) Office on March 20 to renew my driving licence. The procedure is well streamlined and wonderfully organised. The process of receiving the application, feeding the data into the computer, payment of prescribed fee, taking the photo, providing the draft licence card for verification, lamination etc., were all done smoothly and systematically; the staff handled them most efficiently with no scope for any middlemen or corruption.

However, hundreds of seized autos and other vehicles occupy most of the space, which mar the general appearance of the office. Moreover, the office is functioning from a makeshift shed with lots of cobwebs. The quality of photos taken is bad. The authorities should discard the outdated equipment and switch over to the latest technology. The RTO should open one counter to provide application forms for a nominal fee instead of driving the public to the street vendors.

V. R. Sundaram,

Saidapet

Discipline auto rickshaw drivers

The State Government has decided to grant licences to 5000 more autorickshaws. Of late, the Government is inclined to shower benefits to this sector — providing them additional auto stands and initiating welfare measures for the drivers. But it is strange the government has not given any thought to disciplining the sector. The autos have been plying for years on tampered meters and they are now making a killing with flat charges (even Rs. 10 per km). It is the duty of the Government to provide a decent transport for the citizens, which does not require hard bargaining with frayed tempers. In the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad, the autos by and large ply at very reasonable rates. The Government should fix a reasonable fare, ensure installation of electronic meters and implement the same.

S. R. Krishnan,

Lake View Road

Rail commuters'

ordeal far from over

The number of commuters travelling in suburban EMUs between Chennai Beach and Tambaram (and even beyond) and vice versa has increased over the years. The travelling public, mostly office-goers and vendors, were justifiably happy when the Southern Railway started converting the metre-gauge lines to broad-gauge ones, and were assured through frequent press statements by Southern Railway that their ordeal in jam-packed compartments would be over after the gauge conversion. The frequency would be increased, they were told.

But they have been really taken for a ride, since the frequency is less, resulting in overcrowded trains, with all the consequent discomforts and disadvantages.

The commuters waiting on the platforms at stations expecting the arrival of train are large in number and during peak hours in the mornings and evenings, it is even more. The seats now provided on the platforms are enough for only a few, and therefore, most of the commuters have to stand and wait on the platforms for their trains to arrive. The railway authorities should increase the number of benches on the platforms so that at least the aged and the young can be seated.

J. Manohar Singh,

Adambakkam

Depute conductors at bus stops

Two decades ago, at bus stops, conductors issued tickets to the commuters before they boarded the bus. This helped hold up of buses at `stage' points. But the practice has now stopped, for reasons that have not been made public. The authorities concerned are requested to depute conductors at bus stops to issue tickets once again.

K. Pradeep,

Mugappair

Update phone directory

The last issue of BSNL Chennai Telephones directory was in late 2003 (updated up to 2002), and there has been no attempt to issue a fresh updated version.

We have witnessed sea of change in the telephone services with multiple service agencies appearing on the scene. BSNL must have experienced a lot of withdrawals. Adding to this the revised zonal exchange numbers and zones have rendered the last issue obsolete. So much so any number you try to dial is promptly met with by a pre-recorded message saying that "the number is not in use" or "Please check the number you have dialled". This is frustrating.

With the country witnessing an information technology explosion it is a pity we are unable to bring out a revised telephone directory each year from BSNL. GETIT and INFOMEDIA are able to update their directories every year; it should not be difficult for BSNL to update the directory too.

M.P. Chandra Babu,

T.Nagar

Good response from officials

With reference to my letter of March 20, published in this column about non-working of street lamps in Vedachalam garden, Mandaveli, I wish to state that the Superintending Engineer and his deputy set right things and thanks to them all the five lamps are burning now. I would like to thank them once again.

P.A. Ranganathan,

Vedachalagarden, Mandavalli

Prompt action

At about 10-00 a.m. on March 19, a huge neem tree on the 33rd street, 7th sector, K.K. Nagar, fell, blocking traffic and movement of pedestrians. I immediately telephoned the Commissioner, Corporation of Madras and requested him to take urgent action to remove the fallen tree and to ensure free flow of traffic. The Commissioner was kind enough to give immediate instructions to the concerned officials and Mr. Thirumurugan, Assistant Engineer, Division 128, Corporation of Madras, arranged for the removal of the fallen tree within an hour. I would like to record my appreciation for the work done by the Commissioner and his staff in this matter; on behalf of the residents of the street, I take this occasion to thank the Commissioner and his efficient staff.

D. Venkatachalam,

K.K. Nagar