A ‘pitched’ battle against unauthorised parking in CIT Colony

Unauthorised parking happens right next to the fixed barricades; and when it does, it shrinks the road further at streets in Bishop Wallers Avenue

At Bishop Wallers Avenue West in CIT Colony, Mylapore, right in front of an apartment, one finds an attempt to keep unauthorised parking at bay. The attempt is optimistic, entirely home-grown and even pre-historic. What looks like a staff and two sticks stand like the three legs of a tripod mid-way into a busy long exposure photo shoot. It is a non-verbal “no parking” message. The problem is that if someone breathes hard on it, this effort would collapse.

The home-brewed solution only underlines the desperation with which residents of CIT Colony and the various streets of Bishops Wallers Avenue seek to keep outside vehicles out of their hair. Off the busy TTK Road, CIT Colony and the streets of Bishop Wallers Avenue are a ready target for unauthorised parking.

On Bishop Wallers Avenue East and Bishop Wallers Avenue South, one sees an effort that is more “grounded”. Even if a cyclone were to breathe hard on them, the blocks out here would not buckle. These blocks are not sticks but metal barricades, and these are firmly cemented into the ground, actually the road. It has been carried out with the blessing of the E1 Mylapore traffic police.

However, some residents note that at certain times of the day, unauthorised parking happens right next to the fixed barricades; and when it does, it shrinks the road further.

An E1 traffic police source admits that this problem crops up now and then at a couple of spots, invaded by vehicles of visitors to addresses on TTK Road. And that when residents make a call, they have the unauthorised parking cleared. Should there be an effort to keep a keener eye on these spots during these hours?