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

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 19, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reader's Mail

Speed breaker needed

Accidents have become common at the junction of Seventh Cross and Eleventh Cross Streets in Sastri Nagar near `Ram Lok Apartments'. The flow of traffic is heavy at this junction and a speed breaker has to be provided here. A `Stop, Listen and Proceed' signboard is also needed at this junction to caution speeding drivers, particularly those of water tankers and lorries.

P.V. Srinivasan,

Sastri Nagar

Who will punish erring drivers?

It is heartening that the four-lane system of traffic has been extended up to Nandanam. It ensures safety for all road-users and there will be safety for all so long as the vehicle riders/drivers obey the rules and do not jump lanes. Most often, it is the MTC buses, lorries and autos that do not care a fig for signals and lanes and cause a majority of fatal accidents. A pertinent question that craves an answer is: Who is there to punish the erring drivers of Government vehicles such as MTC buses?

N. Ramachandran,

Polichalur

Vandalur

level-crossing

It is heartening to note that the Southern Railway and State Transport Department have taken steps to provide overbridges/subways and thus eliminate level crossings between Beach and Tambaram, with the exception of Tambaram-Velacheri level crossing where the overbridge construction is in progress.

But the Vandalur-Wallajahbad radial road is choked because of its close proximity to the railway station, which poses serious problems on the busy GST road and Wallajah Road, causing great inconvenience to the road and rail users. It is a common sight to see a serpentine queue of vehicles stretching on both sides on the congested GST road. Since buses on route No. 79 are plying between Chennai and Kanchipuram, serving residential colonies and industries and educational institutions in Padappai, it has become imperative to provide an overbridge without any further delay.

Further, heavy laden lorries often get stuck at the level crossing disrupting both rail and road traffic for hours together.

I shall be thankful if the Chief Minister chalks out a plan to close all the level crossings between Tambaram and Chengalpattu stations in the larger interests of both rail and road users.

S. Gopalan,

Maraimalai Nagar

Ban misuse of public places

Chennai Corporation should initiate action to stop use of public places as toilets. The pedestrian areas at Ramasamy Salai, close to the MES transformer, near Padma Seshadri Bala Bhawan, where vehicles are parked during the day, and the corner of 65th Street, 10th Sector and Ramasamy Salai, near the MES Pillar Box transformer, opposite the Scooter Stand, are the worst affected. The use of these areas as open urinals creates a bad stink throughout the day. As these areas are predominantly residential areas, we request the Chennai Corporation to take immediate action to stop this, by fencing off the areas and police patrols

G. R. Sankaranarayanan

K.K. Nagar

Widening of road

The Chennai-Tirupathi High Road from Padi junction to Tiruvellore needs urgent widening. It is unfortunate for the past 30 years there has been no action taken by the State to widen this road, when traffic has increased heavily. Every day there is an accident occurring on this stretch of the road. If the victim happens to be the breadwinner of the family, the problems for the families can be imagined. To get to Ambattur from Padi during the peak hours it takes an hour. I appeal to the State Government to take up the matter with the National Highway Authority (NH205) and widen the road.

T. Gunaseelan,

Ambattur

Mosquito menace

I am a resident of Defence Officers Colony near Kasi Theatre. The residents of this colony are environmental conscious and try to keep the area clean and hygienic.

But despite our efforts, the place is infested with mosquitoes. The reason is the stagnant river Adayar close by. It is choked with muck, especially below the bridge blocking the flow of water. When you pass by you are assailed by the stink.

Shanti Dalton

Defence Officers Colony

Too much noise

There is a need to enforce the ban on air horns due to their high decibel noise near Nellai Nadar School in Kottivakkam and St. Joseph's School, Vettuvankeni. Children are startled while being dropped or picked up from school because of the use of air horns here.

The need to ban these horns, especially on I.T. companies' buses plying on East Coast Road and State Government (TPTC) Villupuram Orange Buses is urgent.

The police and RTO are requested to see that these vehicles comply with the rules and chargesheet bus drivers who violate them. Also, TPTC buses fail to stop at the red signals.

Bharat Hiteshi

Secretary

Lakshmi Hayagreeva Cultural and Educational Trust, Chennai

Send bills on time

I am aged 67 years, and have a BSNL phone (No. 22652284). For the past few months, the BSNL did not send the bi-monthly bills. Consequently one has to get a copy of the bill and remit the charges before due date at the customer centre.

Going through this process is difficult for the elderly. People like me to have spend extra to remit the bill. Unlike private companies, the BSNL authorities do not seem to have a foolproof method in sending the bills to their subscribers.

May I take the opportunity to draw the attention of Hon'ble Minister of the Department to set right the system.

S. Janardanan,

Chrompet

Traffic hazard in West Mambalam

Traffic on the Station Road in West Mambalam is becoming more and more chaotic.

This road is always a congested as vegetable and fruit vendors occupy the space on both sides of the road, especially in the evening peak hours. The ordeal of the people during festival season cannot be imagined. To crown it all, shopkeepers exhibit their materials in front of their shops encroaching on the road, which is already narrow. This poses a hindrance to the smooth flow of traffic on this stretch.

Of late, pedestrians are finding it very difficult to cross the junction at Lake View road as there is continuous flow of traffic from all the four sides to the road. The situation is worse during evening peak hours.

In the absence of a traffic constable or a signal at this busy junction, it is a risky crossing for the public. Further, parking of autos on one corner of this junction on L V Road, notwithstanding the fact that it is not an authorised stand for autos, exacerbates the problem. The authorities concerned should take remedial action as was done in the case of Railway border road and Natesan Street in T. Nagar recently. If the same procedure i.e. eviction of vendors and making them display their wares in their shops and not outside, it will not only pave the way for smooth flow of traffic but also decongest the road to a great extent.

S. Jayabalan,

West Mambalam

Send adequate staff to post office

The Nanganallur south post office, Chennai-600061 is situated in a central area. It is very near to the bazaar, TNEB office, Hindu Mission Hospital, Hindu Colony Community Hall, Syndicate Bank, Chellammal Hindu Vidyalaya, Vetrivel cinema theatre etc.

The post office is always crowded and there is a long queue. It takes ages even to a buy post card, cover, stamps etc. since there is no stamp vendor. There is only one assistant who is running the post office. He has to attend to all postal transactions like issue of stamps, post cards, booking MOs/ Registered Letters, Savings Bank transactions, disbursement of pension to retired employees etc.

Many retired people are residing in this area and it is a pity to see them standing in the queue for a long time.

I request the postal authorities to redress the suffering of the public by posting sufficient staff to the post, including a stamp vendor.

C.N. Madhava Rao,

Chennai

Constable needed to control traffic

Due to continuous flow of traffic from Shastri Bhavan to Nungambakkam High Road, there is no control over traffic at the Haddows Road junction. Elderly people find it very difficult to cross the road to get to the State Bank of India and ABN Amro Bank. Neither is a police constable posted here nor a speed breaker installed to slow down the vehicles. I suggest that since no traffic signal is there, a constable may be posted or a speed breaker installed.

Will the authorities look into this and do the needful?

B. Gokhale,

Ashok Nagar

Not enough staff

Manavalanagar is a thickly populated town, with over 70,000 people. Besides, industrial companies have come up within a 5 km radius. But the post office, with one sub post master, one postal assistant, two delivery staff and one peon find it difficult to serve the customers properly. Everyone is shouldering an extra burden here.

They find it difficult to handle the telephone bill payments from thousands of subscribers due to inadequate staff strength. This apart, non-posting of a part-time stamp vendor increases the workload on the lone postal assistant. The authority concerned is requested to upgrade the Manavalanagar P.O. with adequate staff strength.

N.B.S. Manian,

Secretary, Residents' Welfare Association,

Manavalanagar

Encroachments

Bazaar Road connecting Collector Nagar to Mogappair East, is being black topped. But the road, which starts from Collector Nagar signal and is 50 feet wide narrows down to 30 feet due to encroachments on both sides by shopkeepers.

Apart from this two wheelers are parked in two rows in a haphazard manner making even walking on the margins difficult. The situation is worse in the evenings with a Tasmac liquor shop opposite doing brisk business. Pushcarts loaded with fruits and other vendors also occupy major portion of the road margins. Representations to the police have not yielded any result. The Ambattur Municipality should take firm action to remove the encroachments and the police take corrective steps to clear obstructing vehicles.

V. Rajagopal,

Chennai

Sastri Nagar

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