Thirumalai Pillai Road in T. Nagar has been suffering from traffic issues and now it has to bear an added burden. With the old Kodambakkam flyover under renovation and therefore closed to heavy vehicles, buses have been diverted to T.P. Road.
The two-way stretch can accommodate only a bus or a large vehicle on each side. There is no question of overtaking and other vehicles have to wait in line till such a vehicle takes a turn.
Apart from the regular buses , the added flow of heavy vehicles is making commuting through the stretch a nightmare. Residents are the worst-affected.
R. Sudharshan, a resident of Lake Area in T. Nagar, says: “Earlier, traffic snarls were restricted to the peak hours, but now it has become a perennial problem. I used to let my son cycle to the school, which is nearby, but with so many heavy vehicles plying here, I make sure I drop him myself. I dread the situation e on weekends,” he says.
There are three schools — Padmaseshadri Balabhavan School, Vidyodaya Girls Higher Secondary School and Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao Matriculation Higher Secondary School –– on this stretch and school vans, autos and parents take the road.
However, a traffic policeman makes sure children cross the road freely. “We are aware of the traffic problems on the road and we have parents who volunteer to help out in the management of traffic around the school. We also ask the children to leave home early to make it to school on time,” says Leena Wesley, the acting principal of Vidyodaya School.
To ensure that their wards reach school on time, parents have asked the auto and van drivers to pick their wards earlier. R. Ramesh, an auto driver who drives four girls from Nungambakkam, says: “I used to pick the first student at 7 a.m. and dropped all of them to school by 7.40 a.m. But on the first day of the diversion, they reached the school late. The parents asked me to pick up their wards by 6.45 a.m. so that they make it to school on time.”
