The Sub-Jail road, which was thrown open for traffic by the city police in 2009 after much effort, has come under the grip of encroachers yet again posing much difficulty to city buses and other motorists passing through the road.
The road was open for traffic after being occupied entirely by onion wholesale merchants, iron and scrap merchants, truck operators and other small traders for several decades. The traders who had small shops on the road were virtually occupying the entire stretch for displaying their wares and to conduct their business. Apart from onion stocks, scrap metal lay in heaps along the road all these years so much so that not even two-wheeler riders could use the road.
The road was opened in August 2009 and the move by the then City Police Commissioner Karuna Sagar came in for much appreciation from city residents. The opening of the road, providing an important link between Palakkarai and Gandhi Market, was intended to ease the congestion on the Palakkarai area and Madurai Road. The police had then persuaded the traders to operate within the confines of their shop and not spread their wares on the road.
However, down the years, civic and police authorities have not been able to prevent the traders from returning to their old habits. Of late, most of the shops are functioning right on the road. Trucks, loading and unloading onions and scrap, are parked on the roadsides throughout the day and traffic snarls have become the order of the day.
“We have long been demanding that the Sub Jail road be made free of encroachments and the issue has been raised often at the District Road Safety Council meetings. Currently, town bus crew and other motorists find it very difficult to negotiate the roads,” said M.Sekaran, member of the Road Safety Council and president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations.
Many residents blame the onion merchants for the pathetic condition of the road. A proposal to shift the wholesale onion traders to the outskirts of the city has also failed to take off so far. Until the onion traders are shifted, the police and the Corporation should ensure that the road is rid of encroachments by them and other traders, they demand.
