While the city traffic police have been finding ways to decongest traffic, the Road Safety Week rally, a annual event conducted by the Department of Transports, created chaos for road users for over three hours on Monday.
The Transport Department had planned a rally from Tamukkam Grounds to Gandhi Memorial Museum via Panagal Road and Collectorate. With the Collector flagging off the rally and a battery of police officers, driving school instructors, AR Police and among others participating, the city traffic police had accorded permission for the rally, officials in the Transport Department said.
When many organisations including a few NGOs sought permission for taking out rally on the above route in the past for a noble cause, the police have always turned down their applications on the ground that it would lead to traffic congestion an the stretch.
The event, which was scheduled to begin at 9.30 a.m., actually started at 11.10 a.m., is a different story. But, what irked the road users coming from Corporation swimming pool side was that the traffic police diverted them to use the Gandhi Museum -Collectorate Road to reach Goripalayam citing the rally. Likewise, a little past noon, when the rally was heading towards Collectorate from Panagal Road, the traffic slowed down. As a result, many vehicles from Sellur side were directed towards Goripalayam and asked to use Ghokale Road side.
Ramachandran, an auto driver at Goripalayam stand said that the intention of conducting the road safety week was good, but it should not be done at the cost of humiliating road users. A social activist Karthik, working for an NGO said that when they sought permission for conducting a cycle rally on the same route for a cause of the visually challenged, the authorities rejected it on the ground that the rally would lead to traffic chaos.
Similarly, some media publishing companies and a few hospitals in the city also faced similar treatment from the authorities.
The officers in-charge of giving permission should not be selective and must examine modalities before according permission.
