As there are no posts for streetlights on a stretch of Sholinganallur – Medavakkam Road — from Perumbakkam, near Special Economic Zone – Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SEZ-ELCOT), Sholinganallur, to the Perumbakkam First Grade Village Panchayat Office — it is plunged in darkness at night, posing a steep challenge to road users.
The thoroughfare connects Medavakkam and Rajiv Gandhi Salai and provides connectivity to East Coast Road and Pallikaranai.
The stretch has a special economic zone (SEZ) where thousands of people work; nearly half of the workforce at the SEZ come have their own private transport.
More than thousands of vehicles ply on the stretch every day.
After sunset, vehicle users proceeding towards Medavakkam from Sholinganallur, and vice-versa, find it difficult to negotiate the stretch and the possibility of collisions is high.
“ Vehicular traffic comes to a grinding halt due to poor visibility. The high beam of vehicles coming from the opposite direction blinds road users going towards Sholinganallur and Medavakkam,” G. Swamy, a resident of Kailash Nagar, Perumbakkam, said.
“Accidents on the stretch can prove fatal as the thoroughfare is free after 10 p.m. Given the speed at which motorists drive their vehicles and the poor lighting, they wont be able to ascertain the distance between their vehicle and vehicles, which can lead to fatal accidents,” N. Siva, a retired bank professional and a resident of Perumbakkam, said.
Due to poor illumination, road users rely on neon name boards put up by commercial establishments.
Rash driving, speeding and lane indiscipline are among the other problems on the stretch.
Pedestrians are the worst-affected as there is no space for them to walk, he pointed out..
When contacted the Perumbakkam First Grade Village Panchayat officials said they would take steps to provide lighting at the earliest.
