Encroachments, parking on roads choke traffic flow on G.N. Chetty Road
The Hindu
Chennai's G.N. Chetty Road has four traffic signals within 200m, causing traffic jams during peak hours. Footpaths are encroached by vehicles, and chairs put up by tea stalls, while cows are tied to poles. Venkatnarayana Road and Padmavathi temple also add to the traffic. Illegal parking and encroachments must be removed to improve the situation.
Despite having two traffic signals within a distance of 200 metres on G.N. Chetty Road in T. Nagar, traffic heading towards Gemini flyover, Nungambakkam and Cathedral Road continue to move at a snail’s pace, especially during peak hours.
The entire G.N. Chetty Road stretch, which starts from one end of Panagal Park and ends before the Gemini flyover has four signals — one after the Murugan Idli Shop; one next to Vani Mahal; one next to AGS Cinemas and Bharathirajaa Hospital; and the last one near the Moopanar memorial, a few meters before the flyover. “Movement of the traffic here is slow and most people commute on the wrong side of the road to reach their destination faster. Also, the footpaths here are encroached by vehicles, and chairs put up by tea stalls. People also come from nearby areas and tie their cows to poles near footpaths, leaving no space for pedestrians. All these must be addressed,” said Shanmugham, who works at a private firm on this road.
Mr. Rao, a resident of T. Nagar, said crossing the road during screening of movies at AGS cinemas was difficult. “People have to wait for vehicles entering and exiting the theatre. Ever since Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam’s (TTD)‘s Padmavathi temple opened here, parking of vehicles outside roads have increased, resulting in more traffic. The same happens on Venkatnarayana Road that houses the main TTD temple,” he pointed out.
Residents say that during weekends, the footfall in the temple is high, resulting in more traffic snarls. Mr. Rao further noted that there was a Gurudwara on the road with a large parking space. Similarly, some [parking] space has to be allocated to the temple. If not, traffic jams will continue..., he added.
The road also houses some prominent retail establishments and hotels and visitors park their vehicles on the main road, resulting in chaos.
Another resident here highlighted that whenever there were events at Vani Mahal, the whole road gets flooded with vehicles. This had to be checked. “At times, visitors to Pondy Bazaar also park their vehicles on G.N. Chetty road. Since they have to pay for parking at Pondy Bazaar, they prefer parking their vehicles on the road here,” he said.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.