The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Dropping off children at school not child’s play

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Dropping off children at school not child’s play

Meera Srinivasan and A. Srivathsan

Traffic snarls, minor accidents all part of a parent’s daily schedule

— PHOTO: K. PICHUMANI

CHAOS ZONE: Bikes and cars parked haphazardly outside a school in West Chennai, posing a danger to students and commuters.

CHENNAI: Roads and spaces in front of many schools in Chennai are fast becoming potential zones of accident and traffic jam. It is not uncommon to find a large number of small and big cars parked outside schools in the city to pick up or drop children.

The main roads are clogged with vehicles parked on either sides, residents in the neighbouring lanes battling with drivers who have parked their vehicles in front of their gates, and children going through harrowing and dangerous times before they alight or enter their vehicles.

“My son is in class eleven. The school bus is available only for students in classes one to eight. Even if I am five minutes late, I get stuck in a massive jam near the school,” says Sharada Vinod, a parent of a student going to a leading school in Central Chennai. Getting off her big grey car, she makes sure her bonnet is not touching the rear of the small car parked in front.

Says N. Ramesh, owner of a snack store in Mylapore: “It is scary to see small children cross the roads to get into their vans. With so many cars moving about, it is very dangerous for children who are chatting with their friends and walking on the road.”

Carpools suggested

About 1,000 to 1,200 cars come to Santhome and MRC Nagar in the morning and afternoon, and these include vehicles that visit the school. Private vans and other modes of transport only add to the confusion. School principals acknowledge this problem. The traffic police approached them to address the issue, they say.

Chettinad Vidyashram’s principal S. Bhavani Shankar says the school has urged parents to consider carpools. “That will bring down the number of cars driven to school considerably. We are also requesting our management to introduce staggered timings so that all the vehicles brought to school do not come at the same time,” he says.

The situation is the same in front of several schools in Adyar, Kilpauk Garden and Chetpet.

Parking norms

The current building rules of Chennai Metropolitan Area insist that educational institutions with floor area between 100 and 1,000 square metres must provide one car space for every 200 square meter of floor area. For every additional 100 square metre of floor area (exceeding 1,000 sq.m) one car park space must be provided.

Senior officials at CMDA say that the parking norms are to be soon revised. In their recommendation to the CMDA, the parking consultants suggest that private schools in future should provide one car space for every 100 sq.m of classroom area and one two-wheeler space for every 50 sq.m of classroom area and one bicycle space for every 10 sq.m of class area.

Many schools do not meet these parking norms. Even some of the reputed schools have violated the parking requirement. As a result, cars get piled up on the roads not only affecting the traffic on the abutting roads but also endangering the life of many schoolchildren. Building norms should not only look at the parking requirements, but also need to look at safety issues in locating the school premises and the exits and entrances, experts say.

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