With most of the schools that are located along the arterial roads refusing to allow autorickshaws and parents’ vehicles inside the school, traffic congestion near the institutions during morning and evening hours is a cause of concern for road users.
Many reputed schools in the city are located on Suramangalam Main Road, Meyyanur Main Road, Convent Road, and Attur Main Road where the volume of traffic is very high at any given point of time.
Autorickshaws that transport children to the schools and the two-wheelers and four-wheelers of parents who come to drop and pick their children during morning and evening hours are parked haphazardly on these roads thus leaving little space for other vehicles to move on.
In the absence of security personnel to regulate traffic outside these schools, children are at risk while boarding autorickshaws as they have to encounter other vehicles moving on the road. Though vast space is available on the premises, vehicles are not allowed inside, says M. Anitha of Suramangalam.
Vehicular movement on the Meyyanur Main Road comes to a standstill during evening hours after the school hours of a private school located along the road.
Most of the buses to other cities pass through the road to reach their destinations and to the New Bus Stand. But there is hardly any space even for two-wheelers to move after the school hours. Though a ground with vast space is available, all the vehicles are parked on both the sides of the narrow road.
“If vehicles were allowed inside the school, it is safe for both the students and the parents,” said T. Murugan of Pallapatti. Parents wanted the district administration and the police to hold talks with the schools for allowing the vehicles inside.
A senior police official said that traffic personnel are posted outside 21 schools to regulate traffic.
However, they would take steps asking the schools to allow vehicles for the safety of the students and also to reduce congestion during evening hours, the official added.
