Residents are up in arms over the presence of at least a dozen Tasmac shops on the 50-km Tiruvanmiyur-Mamallapuram stretch of East Coast Road (ECR).
The regular occurrence of road accidents on this stretch is partly due this, said residents. On Saturday, nearly 500 residents, mainly women, of Kanathur village near Muttukadu, gheraoed a Tasmac shop near a bus stop demanding that it be shifted to an isolated place.
They also attempted to block the stretch. The Kanathur police pacified them and said efforts would be taken to shift the shop soon.
Residents also said that many tourists who came to the Crocodile Bank and Mamallapuram often drank at the shop and got into fights with residents and shopkeepers. “Many such incidents happen on weekends. The police do intervene but it is only a short-term solution,” said S. Kalairani of Kanathur
Two years ago, residents of MGR Nagar in Akkarai near Sholinganallur protested against a new IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) outlet of Tasmac in the locality. Some even assaulted the staff at the store and damaged a few cartons of liquor bottles.
The likelihood of accidents in the stretch adds to the gravity of the issue. Last year, a man and his son who were searching for a Tasmac shop while returning from a funeral, were fatally hit by a van near Mamallapuram on the ECR. “Also, drunken driving is a major cause for accidents on ECR,” said a senior police officer.
At present, there are Tasmac outlets at Tiruvanmiyur, Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Injambakkam, Akkarai, Kanathur, Kovalam, Vadanemeli and Mamallapuram. The fact that police outposts in this stretch are poorly manned is also a problem, said residents.
A police officer said most of the personnel are deployed for VVIP visits.
