Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli   

Traffic system continues to be chaotic in Nellai

P. Sudhakar

A group of young lawyers has drawn up a plan to approach the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court for a remedy Bus drivers suddenly stop their vehicles wherever they want causing frequent traffic snarls and accidents

AT SIXES AND SEVENS: Vehicles of various kinds take their own course in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai. A scene near Tirunelveli Railway Junction. — Photo: A.Shaikmohideen

TIRUNELVELI: With the police and the district administration here in a state of indifference and refuse to take concrete measures to ensure safety and security of road users, public especially those travelling in small vehicles such as autorickshaws and two-wheelers in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai are at the receiving end.

Not a day passes without an accident including a fatal one in the city limits.

The main reason behind the chaotic traffic system in the twin cities is the conduct of bus drivers of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation and private companies, who halt their vehicles at their discretion, particularly in unscheduled stops.

Ruthless competition between drivers of government and private buses, and subsequent reckless driving cause panic among other road users.

Though the public had raised the issue in public forums on several occasions in the presence of top officials from the district administration and the Police Department, no action has been taken to restore orderliness on roads within the city limits.

When a dentist made a mention about this issue in the last `Police-public goodwill meet' held at Palayamkottai, she was forced to sit down by a top police official, responsible for traffic regulation within the city limits.

"We can't just understand as to why the district administration and the police are just trembling in fear and refuse to take action against erring drivers.

The Traffic Regulation Committee, in which top officials from the district administration, Police Department are members, cannot specify the actual bus stops within the city limits and the bus drivers suddenly stop their vehicles wherever they want, causing frequent traffic snarls and accidents.

However, nobody in the district right from the Collector to the City Police Commissioner, is interested in ensuring vehicular movement in an orderly manner," fumed a leading surgeon of the city.

Apart from finalising designated bus stops, the police and the district administration should convene a meeting of TNSTC officials, owners of private bus companies and representatives of share autorikshaw driver unions to tell them in unequivocal terms that the drivers, who dare to defy the laws, would be fined heftily for every violation, including halting of vehicles at unscheduled stops either to drop or pick up passengers.

Besides deploying more traffic constables on important roads, all of them should be sensitised to take stringent action against violators without fear, people here feel.

Frustrated over this perilous situation, a group of young lawyers, backed by some responsible persons in the society, have drawn up a plan to approach the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court to find an everlasting remedy.

"We've been forced to approach the court as the official machinery here is almost dead. Respondents of this case would be the Collector, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic), the Corporation Commissioner, the Regional Transport Officer and the TNSTC General Manager here. Only after the intervention of the court, these people will learn an unforgettable lesson," said one of the lawyers drafting the case.

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