While infrastructure projects are designed to benefit residents, many a time, they end up putting residents and even school-going children to hardship. Students are not only forced to take detours but are also exposed to severe pollution near the project sites.
Many schools in the city are located near ongoing development projects, including flyover and CMRL sites. For some schools, this has meant losing buildings, while teachers and students of other institutions have had to take a detour or endure heavy traffic.
Kiran Subbiah and his son leave their residence in Perambur almost an hour early to the latter’s school in Anna Nagar. Students of nearly 10 schools in the neighbourhood have to travel an extra kilometre-and-a-half owing to ongoing projects for a flyover in Thirumangalam and the Chennai Metro Rail. “It usually takes 20 minutes to reach school. We end up having to vie for space with MTC buses on interior roads like 13 Main Road and negotiating choked roads. So, we start early to avoid congestion,” he said.
Residents of Madhavaram face similar woes. The delay in a flyover project in Moolakadai junction, which was started three years ago, has led to residents getting caught in traffic snarls. “Residents from Perambur, heading to Muthamizh Nagar, have to join the oncoming traffic from Red Hills due to a traffic diversion. We wait for 20 minutes to travel a distance that can be covered in five minutes. Children can often be seen wearing masks to avoid pollution,” said J. Ravi of Kilburn Nagar, Madhavaram.
Another school hub, Harrington Road, is similarly affected. Although the concrete road has been completed, children are forced to walk on the roads as the footpath is yet to be laid. “Every day, I see children struggling in the traffic to get to their school vans,” a resident said.
Students of schools along Poonamallee High Road also take a detour due to Chennai Metro Rail work.
According to a senior traffic official, even though the police put in measures to control the traffic pile-up around these infrastructure projects, schools too have to do their part. “Encouraging children to come by van, or allowing parking inside the school will help regulate traffic,” he said.
There are others who are worse off. The Corporation-run school in Vadapalani, for instance, lost one of its buildings due to CMRL work. Students from the nearby slum walk an additional kilometre just to cross the road to get to school. “There is no pedestrian crossing close to the school and on many occasions, kids dart across the 100 feet road,” a parent said, adding that the school had approached the government, but nothing had been done.
Other schools like the Government school in Thoraipakkam, the Corporation-run school in Saidapet and the Narikurava school in Saidapet are also affected by infrastructure projects. While the Thoraipakkam school too has lost a building, the schools in Saidapet are located beside the CMRL construction site.
According to the school education department, little can be done to protect the interests of the schools as the work takes place on the road. “We cannot stop the work just because a school is in the vicinity. It is up to the people in charge of the project to consider the inconvenience caused to children,” an official said, adding that the schools too have to take some of the responsibility.
