Maduravoyal residents demand street lights on bypass

Residents living in areas near Maduravoyal and lorry owners say it has become dangerous to drive on the Chennai bypass at night in the absence of illumination

Several residents staged a torchlight demonstration on Friday evening protesting against lack of street lights on Chennai bypass between Maduravoyal and Tambaram.

Members of the Federation of Maduravoyal Residents’ Welfare Associations joined hands with the traders’ organisations and Tamil Nadu State Sand Lorry Owners Federation and protested with torchlights near Vanagaram tollgate.

Residents said motorists faced the risk of accidents on the arterial road after dusk because of lack of illumination. It became dangerous to drive on the road because of the high density of heavy transport vehicles, said federation secretary C. Thirumal Adimai.

The 32-km bypass connects Tambaram with Kolkata Highway at Red Hills and is preferred by motorists who want to avoid congested arterial roads. People living in the areas along the bypass, including Nolambur, Ambattur and Maduravoyal, use the road regularly.

S. Yuvaraj, president, Tamil Nadu State Sand Lorry Owners’ Federation, said: “We had to resort to protest along with residents as the stretch is yet to get street lights despite many promises in the past.” He recalled that the National Highways Authority of India had promised to put up street lights in its reply to an RTI petition filed in August last year. The expenditure for Phase I and II of the bypass was put at ₹1,546.62 crore till June 2021 as mentioned in the RTI. Phase II of the road was completed in May 2011.

Although the NHAI had said that street lights should be installed at a cost of ₹23 crore, nothing had been done so far, he Mr. Yuvaraj added.