Residents of areas in and around Triplicane want the Chennai Corporation to construct more cattle barriers in these areas to prevent stray cattle from causing road accidents and to keep public places clean.
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Last year, the civic body constructed cattle barriers on three roads — two falling under Division 116 and one under Division 12. This measure has helped prevent cattle from roaming freely, say residents.
“There are three entrances to Thiruvallikeni MRTS station and a cattle barrier was placed on the road leading to Kamaraj Salai. It has helped a lot. A similar arrangement must be made at the other entrances,” says Sahayam, RPF personnel patrolling the station.
He says the conservancy staff and passengers have made many complaints in the past as the station premises would be littered with cow dung.
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As the cattle shed is located along the station premises and the animals are let free during rush hour, commuters say, there is traffic congestion.
“Last week, a couple with a child travelling on a motorcycle fell off when they were hit by a cattle that was running across. More stringent action should be taken to ensure cattle owners do not allow cattle to roam on the roads,” says V. Seethuraman, who travels regularly from Triplicane to Beach station.
According to Corporation officials, cattle barriers were built as part of a pilot project and based on feedback from residents, they plan to extend this feature to other areas.
“Cattle barriers were constructed on the roads leading to Kamaraj Salai in the first phase as it is a main road and many motorists take the stretch,” said a Corporation official. But, sometimes cattle owners force the cattle to pass through the barriers, which defeats the purpose, say officials.
R.K. Salai and Bharathi Salai are a few other roads that are expected to have cattle barriers, next.