A slew of issues confronts commuters on MMDA Colony Main Road

Residents and commuters on MMDA Colony Main Road face issues such as traffic congestion, poor road conditions, and lack of footpaths.

Alauddin, 60, a fruit-seller on MMDA Colony Main Road, pulls his cart carefully through heavy traffic before parking it in a corner for a break. “It is a tough task to walk through this stretch at peak hours because of the heavy congestion which is exacerbated by the unregulated parking here,” he says.

Be it potholes on the road in some pockets, haphazard parking of two-wheelers and four-wheelers, lack of good footpath or traffic bottleneck, residents and commuters using the MMDA Colony Main Road grapple with numerous issues every day.

Since there are 2-3 schools in the area, hundreds of children walk through the stretch in the morning and the evening, a fact that stresses the need for a good footpath. “I have never seen a continuous well-maintained footpath. In some parts, it exists, and in other parts, it doesn’t. This is an important concern. As the stretch is chock-a-block with vehicles, senior citizens and children need safe space to walk without having to trip and fall,” he says.

Commuters and residents say that if encroachments on the footpath and the road and illegal parking of vehicles are removed, it will help them to a great extent. They say that since the MMDA Colony Main Road links Poonamallee High Road to 100 Feet Road, the traffic congestion at peak hours and on festival days is pretty high because there is a market, too, on this stretch.

Sekar, another resident of MMDA Colony Main Road, says the condition of the road near the market and the bus depot is rather poor, and it needs to be fixed at the earliest. “They [the civic body] did patchwork before the monsoon and it washed away in the rain. It is very disappointing. Though they have finished the majority of the patchwork, more needs to be done, and it will be helpful if they can complete it at the earliest. Those riding two-wheelers or cycles have to be careful while riding past these pockets,” he says.

Another important concern of residents is that the area often gets flooded during monsoon. They want a solution to the issue. “The problem is when it gets flooded, it takes longer for the water to drain than in other areas. Before the next monsoon, it will help the residents if they find a solution,” said an autorickshaw driver residing in the area.