The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Reader's Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 10, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reader's Mail

Make registration mandatory

It is gratifying to note that the State has made it necessary to affix photo IDs for all property buying and selling, lease and mortgage deals in TN though belatedly in comparison with its counterparts in AP and Karnataka.

This should, by and large, eliminate the fraudulent people from the scene and pave the way for genuine transactions.

Equally important but less talked about in the realm of property development is the registration of Residential Associations.

Though registration is governed by the provisions of TN Co-operative Society's Registration Act and TN Apartment Ownership Act 1994, in practice such registration is neither made mandatory nor are the provisions penal as in the case of Property Tax or Metrowater tax or Electricity Board dues.

The result is that illegal and spurious registrations with all the attendant evils crop up with ulterior motives of gaining material advantage by a select few, resulting in the loss of ownership/ amenities rights for many. Added to this, many irregularities like non-payment of maintenance charges, encroachments etc. take place unabated. Civil and criminal disputes also arise under such foul plays. To check this, it is imperative that the residential associations are also legalised to enforce adequate safety and ownership rights to all the owner-occupants. There has to be a separate licensing and regulatory authority to enforce the provisions of law. The photo IDs of the member occupants must also be made mandatory to check the menace of bogus registrations. Will the authorities concerned look into the matter with some urgency?

V. Ganesh,

Saidapet

Rail booking office at Guindy

For the past two to three months, the Railway Ticketing office at Guindy (eastern side) is functioning for only limited hours. The reason stated by the railways for this is `poor collection; economically non-viable to work fulltime'.

The result of this is that the passengers have to get to the other side, stand in the queue, buy a ticket and reach the platform; the passengers are put to great inconvenience, being forced to use the foot-over bridge twice and waste precious time too.

Guindy East is a gateway for several busy localities, offices, colonies and connecting bus services.

Keeping this in view, I request the authorities to restore full-time functioning of the booking office.

N. Jagannathan,

Adambakkam

Road still not fully usable

Even after a decade, only one side of the road is being used by public on Anna Main Road of MGR Nagar from Nesapakkam to KK Nagar bus-stand. The other side is still not usable; the authorities should make the necessary arrangements for free traffic flow on this important road.

K. Ravi,

Thiru Nagar

Regulate autorickshaws

Re the article in your daily of June 28, "Auto Fares Sky Rocket" on page 4. I visit Chennai every month on official tours. For an outsider like me it is a nightmare to deal with the auto drivers and their demands for exorbitant fares.

Most of these drivers are very rude to the customers. The cruel fact is that auto drivers are a vote bank for the ruling party. Moreover, many autos are owned by either policemen or politicians, which gives auto drivers a free hand to get away with their behaviour.

Like Mumbai, autos in Chennai should be provided with electronic meters which cannot be tampered with and fare cards. But this needs strong measure from the government, traffic police and the Regional Transport Authority (RTO) officers.

I am surprised that the people of Chennai are tolerating this evil for years now. Auto drivers should be convinced by RTO officials that they won't lose out by running the vehicle on metered fares.

Chandrashekhar,

Mumbai

Remove TASMAC shops

Before the construction of the MIT flyover, pedestrians were using the GST Road. Now the highways department has provided a service road on both sides of GST Road below the Bridge for the use of local citizens. But unfortunately the public, especially the New Colony residents, find it extremely difficult to use, since the narrow road has become very congested not only due to various encroachments but also due to wine shops and bars.

There are four TASMAC wine shops within 200 metres of the Service Road.

The service road has been virtually converted into open air bars!

Women and children find it difficult to use the road after dusk since drunkards create a nuisance on the road. Broken bottles, water and biriyani packets are strewn all over the road.

We request the authorities to shift all the four wine shops from the service road. The Pallavapuram municipality and the police should also remove all the encroachments.

V. Santhanam,

President,

Peoples Awareness Centre,

Chromepet

Encroachments

on pavements

The Minister for Local Administration, M.K. Stalin, has stated that there should not be any politicisation of encroachments and interference by politicians will only embolden the encroachers. I draw attention to the time when pavement vendors were evicted from South Mada Street in Mylapore, during 1998, when Mr. Stalin was the Mayor of Chennai. In spite of repeated requests, the Commissioner of the Chennai Corporation did not take any steps to clear the pavement encroachers and clear the pavements. Now that Mr. Stalin himself is the Minister in charge of Local bodies, I hope he will direct firmly the Commissioner of Chennai to remove all the pavement encroachers immediately.

R.K. Balasubramanian

Mylapore

HT cables hanging precariously

A major problem on the arterial Anna Salai, above the median at several places is the overhead electrical wire (high tension) wires hanging precariously. This could be due to normal wear and tear, or perhaps they have been severed for reasons unknown and left hanging. The situation is really fraught with risk for the general public. When giant sized transformers are being replaced with compact sized equipment, the menace of overhead wires hanging precariously should be looked into by the TamilNadu Electricity Board (TNEB).

N. Vijayaraghavan

West Mambalam

Bus shelter

urgently needed

Ever since the city buses started plying from Korattur to other places, there has been no bus stand as such. A vast piece of open ground surrounded by shops on three sides near Korattur Railway Station has become the Korattur bus stand, but it has no shelter or booth or office.

This place is the starting point and end point for many buses such as 7B, G47, 41C etc. There is no booth or any Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) staff to respond to the commuters' queries or any checking inspector to ensure vehicles adhere to the scheduled timings. Since there is no shelter provided, commuters especially senior citizens have to wait for the buses standing in the middle of the road in the hot sun, and during rainy season brave the pouring rain.

There are many potholes in the area and even a small drizzle floods the area, making it resemble a pond.

Worse, the buses have to park in the waterlogged area.

It is high time the MTC authorities took notice of this and made the necessary arrangements to re-lay the road and level the ground and also provide shelter and booths. This is imperative as the number of commuters is increasing day by day.

B. Gokhale

Korattur

Stop burning of garbage

The garbage collected by the Local body is being dumped and burnt at the burial ground at Chitlapakkam IIIrd Main road regularly. This leads to smoke enveloping the area, leading to difficulty in breathing for the area's residents. Added to this there is a school, with over 1,500 students studying, just opposite to the burial ground. Because of the smoke the students are unable to concentrate on their studies. Will the authorities take necessary action to stop this?

S. Chandrasekaran

Joint Secy.,

Residents Welfare Association,

Chitlapakkam

Provide skating rinks in parks

All the major parks in the city should provide skating rinks for children. Skating makes for excellent physical exercise and can be made into a popular sporting event. Most of the schools conduct painting and music contests. If skating is made popular in the city, the schools can also hold contests for the skating children. The Chennai Corporation, with sponsorship from private sector enterprises, should explore the idea of providing skating rinks in parks in the city.

K. Pradeep

Mogappair

Moovarasampet lake needs protection

Moovarasampet lake, which is on the eastern side of Krishna Nagar and Jayalakshmi Nagar (ward No. 13 of Pallavaram Municipality), is today polluted with garbage and sewage water. On the banks of this lake one can see pigs roaming and cows trying to graze and chew the waste polythene covers scattered there. Frequently, sewage water from Tirusoolam panchayat area is brought through a bullock-cart tanker and dumped in the lake by the workers of Tirusoolam Panchayat.

Will the authorities concerned take necessary steps immediately to protect this waterbody and save the nearby residents from health hazards?

A.J. Ethiraj

President

Krishna Nagar Residents Welfare Assn.

Madipakkam

Streetlights

not working

For the past one month, none of the streetlights at Jagannathan Street, Balaiah Garden, Madipakkam is burning. After 7 p.m. the street becomes very dark and residents find it difficult to reach their homes.

Due to the recent rain, the road in the street has been damaged extensively. Added to that, now there is no light on the street. Elderly people and children are apprehensive about walking on the street, as they have to contend with the danger of stumbling over the small stones and boulders lying on the street.

Will the Madipakkam Panchayat act immediately and restore the streetlights?

D. Vasu Pandithar

Madipakkam

Widen, re-lay road in Mount

The road leading to St. Thomas Hospital, Military Hospital and Defence Colony from Butt Road in St. Thomas Mount is very narrow and with potholes. The swarm of vehicles especially delivery autos (vans), two-wheelers etc., vie with one another to get ahead in order to avoid the potholes unmindful of the on-coming vehicles. They also come to the middle of the roads inviting the risk of collision. Further, there is wild growth of bushes to a height of four to five feet, which also poses danger during night in the absence of streetlights. Two-wheeler riders face great risk while negotiating this narrow road, on which many heavy vehicles (MTC bus and Army trucks) ply. I request the authorities to clear the bushes, widen the narrow road and re-lay the same to enable the safe commuting of patients to these hospitals and also ensure the free flow of traffic on this stretch of the road.

D. Natarajan

Nanganallur

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