It is not just licence applicants who visit the Regional Transport Office (RTO) on New Avadi Road. The premises also see rat snakes passing through every day. Though harmless, the reptiles scare those who come to the RTO for their driving test.
Over 100 people visit the RTO for registering their vehicles, and over 200 take their licence tests here, every day. Many even practice manoeuvring, early in the morning and late in the evening. “We allow them to ride their vehicles so that they feel confident during the test. Some of them spot snakes crawling a few feet away and get scared,” said an official.
The snakes also crawl into the RTO office rooms near the testing track. “The reptiles slither in from the burial ground adjacent to our premises and from the Otteri Nullah. We are constantly throwing them away from the premises,” the official added.
Apart from the reptiles, drunkards and miscreants also trespass on the premises, and damage property inside.
“Some residents of the nearby slums throw garbage into the RTO premises. A bad stench emanates from the litter. There has been no respite despite warning them,” another official said.
Miscreants also steal components from seized automobiles, he added. “All the vehicles are parked inside the premises and there is a security guard. But the thieves manage to sneak in. The premises turn into a haven for drunkards in the night.”
A licence applicant, who was present at the RTO on Tuesday, said the place was ‘creepy’.
V. Rajagopal, president, Anna Nagar West Extension Resident’s Welfare Association, said the office premises was in need of regular maintenance.
Senior officials of the transport department said things were expected to improve once the joint transport commissioner’s office was constructed on the premises.
