Skidding on empty liquor bottles dumped on the small bridge that connects Nolambur with Maduravoyal on the Poonemallee High (PH) Road has become common occurrence. Motorcyclists are at high risk for such accidents. These bottles are dumped by the staff of a Tasmac outlet which is located at the end of the bridge.
Every day, hundreds of motorists use the bridge to reach PH Road. In fact, the heavy traffic flow on the new bridge has forced the traffic police to deploy a policeman at one end of the bridge.
“The route via the bridge might be longer than the ones involving the main stretches of Anna Nagar but it is less congested,” said Abdul Hameed, a motorist from Nolambur.
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For want of space, motorists travel on the extreme end of the bridge, where the bottles are thrown, and sometimes end up skidding. Further, the foul smell from the empty bottles keeps pedestrians away from the footpath on the bridge. “It’s a concern for us too as it not only obstructs traffic on the bridge but also makes it as a crime-prone spot. Chain snatching incidents have been reported from here – one of the reasons why bright street lights were installed to burn through the night,” said a policemen.
Corporation officials said their staff often remove the empty bottles from the spot, but in no time more bottles get accumulated. In fact, civic workers too get hurt while collecting the bottles that are broken. “They (Tasmac outlets) should have a system of disposing of these bottles rather than dumping them in any open space. Fines or warning may not deter them from dumping these bottles in this manner,” said a Corporation official.