The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Citizens raise doubts over elevated corridor

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Monday, Aug 31, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Citizens raise doubts over elevated corridor

“City projects proposed without proper planning”

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

SEEKING ANSWERS: A section of the participants at a seminar organised as part of the Save Chennai’s Beaches Campaign on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Residents of various parts of the city participated in a seminar on ‘Chennai’s road building plans: A problem or a solution,’ organised as part of the Save Chennai Beaches Campaign here on Sunday.

Participants, including residents and experts, of the seminar questioned the plans, premise, outcome and the cost involved in developing the projects. The proposal to construct elevated corridor along the beach from Light House to Kottivakam would facilitate vehicles to ply at a higher speed, but the project will not contribute directly to improvement of public transport, said M.G. Devasahayam, Managing Trustee of SUSTAIN.

Around 80 per cent of the people in the city use public transport, but a chunk of the current investment contributes to private transport, he said. The construction of the corridor along the beach would only increase congestion along the beach, he added.

Architect Tara Murali said such projects were proposed without proper planning. She stressed the need for a comprehensive integrated land use and transport planning for the metropolitan area and improvement to pedestrians’ conditions.

Traffic engineer K.P. Subramanian said the elevated corridor would benefit the car-owning population but was an expensive and inefficient response to traffic problems. He added “The process of identification of the project was wrong.” Residents voiced concern that the project may create new problems such as destroy the natural ecosystem of the beach with more vehicles and spoil the aesthetics. Fishing hamlets would be affected and Olive Ridley turtles would be distracted by increase in lighting on account of the corridor, said V. Arun of Student Sea Turtle Conservation Network. Similarly, the touch-down points along the corridor will create chaos at key junctions, said Mr. Subramanian. There should be a comprehensive plan for optimal utilisation of the existing roads, said Mr. Devasahayam.

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