Saidapet, a picture of confusion during evening hours

By P. Oppili

CHENNAI, SEPT. 8. Absence of police personnel to regulate traffic and lack of involvement of Transport Corporations in parking of buses on Anna Salai at Saidapet has been leading to severe congestion during late evening hours.

A visit to the place on Friday night revealed that the buses were queued up obstructing movement of vehicles towards Guindy, Taluk Office Road, Saidapet and beyond. They get clogged near the Mariyamman temple.

Commuters say that the problem starts from Tod Hunter Nagar junction during late evening hours. Motorists obey the signal in the presence of a traffic police and in the absence, every vehicle tries to overtake another, resulting in congestion.

Similarly beyond the MTC terminus, the road narrows down and added to this, shops have appeared on the pavement, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road risking their lives. Parking of autorickshaws in the area is also another irritant, says Mr. K. Krishnamurthy, a resident of Madipakkam.

Sometime ago, a proposal was mooted to shift the termini of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) and other mofussil buses from the existing site close to the Saidapet MTC terminus, on the banks of Adyar river. For reasons better known to the authorities, the project could not be taken up seriously, said Mr. R. Rajasekar, a resident of Saidapet.

The five-seater autorickshaws and maxicab operators heading to Madipakkam, Nanganallur and surrounding areas, park outside the MTC bus bay.

Shifting the SETC and other bus services termini from the existing place, close to the MTC terminus will solve the problem, feel the commuters. The ground level has to be raised, as it was done for creating the MTC terminus and the buses asked to leave from this place.

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