The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Safety given a go-by in order to make a buck

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Safety given a go-by in order to make a buck

Kannal Achuthan

Shopping centres flout norms with impunity

— Photo: S. S. Kumar

HAPHAZARD GROWTH: As buildings on General Patters Road lack adequate parking space, traffic blocks are common on this one-way stretch.

Chennai: Hundreds of people throng shops on Usman Road and Ranganathan Street in T. Nagar every day risking life and limb.

Many of the big shopping centres on these roads violate every building norm, jeopardising the lives of people in case of fire or a stampede.

The situation is no different in many other parts of the city. Balconies of flats facing each other jut out so much that they form a bridge across narrow lanes in Park Town. In Royapettah, the owner of a ground floor godown and four floors of residential flats has not created any car parking space or emergency exits.

Director of Fire and Rescue Services Bhola Nath says: “Fire fighting is hampered when fire engines cannot move around a building. Special and multi-storeyed buildings are required to have set back space of at least seven metres.” Multi-storeyed buildings should also be equipped with emergency exit staircases and sprinkler systems, he pointed out.

Fires take longer to put out in buildings which have violated construction norms. Fires from 2001 – 2005 led to the loss of 22 lives in Chennai.

Blatant violations

Illegal parking can also hinder emergency services. Ambulances or fire engines cannot reach the injured or the patients requiring evacuation on time when parked vehicles block narrow streets. Even restaurants and retail chain stores that do roaring business fail to provide parking space causing traffic congestion and delay.

Rules mandating creation of parking space are frequently flouted by builders. At least 25 per cent of the multi-storeyed and special buildings on Usman Road and Ranganathan Street are required to offer parking space for more than 50 cars but not one building has the provision. This leads to a pile-up of vehicles in streets in the neighbourhood.

For 10 years now, the idea of multilevel parking has been discussed as a solution to create more space. Urban Development Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, during a review meeting held in June, said that the multi-level parking projects would be implemented on a fast track basis.

Future solutions

However, multi-level parking could be only one of the solutions as the Delhi Municipality’s experience has shown. A feasibility study conducted at a parking site in Parade Ground in Old Delhi showed that most car users were unwilling to pay more than Rs. 10 for parking. Private operators of multi-level parking lots in Delhi have started demanding more than the Municipality tariffs to make up for lack of patronage.

In Chennai too, people are used to pay low prices for parking in public spaces (Chennai Corporation collects Rs. 5 per car for 6 hours) although they put up with as much as Rs. 15 per car per hour to park in malls and multiplexes.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said, “There should be a policy to regulate private transport in congested areas such as Usman Road. High parking fees in prime commercial areas will encourage people to use public transport.”

Town planning experts recommend an integrated approach that reins in construction violations, paves the way for dedicated bus lanes, brings in taxation for use of private vehicles and promotes user-friendly public transport to reduce congestion and make the city safer.

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