Everyone likes a spell of rain that offers a reprieve from the summer heat. For motorists regularly taking NSC Bose Road, the recent showers have offered a temporary escape from a different and recurrent problem.
The intermittent showers, which led to water stagnation, temporarily cleared hawkers from the road.
Following the showers, the 80-feet NSC Bose Road, between Flower Bazaar police station and the traffic junction in Broadway, a distance of less than half a kilometre, became wider, making it easy for all road users to navigate it. “Like T. Nagar, hawkers on NSC Bose Road should be permanently moved to a commercial complex to ensure the stretch belongs to road users,” said S.Thangam, a resident of Broadway.
The road at Parry’s Corner is a key stretch connecting Rajaji Salai with Wall Tax Road. Rows of buildings housing commercial establishments and important government offices like Kuralagam and the Madras High Court are located on the road.
Repeated evictions have often had a short-lived effect with hawkers re-assembling within a few hours. With storm water drains on both sides of the stretch, clogged with garbage, rainwater stagnates on the road. There is chaos. But whenever this happens, the road is freed of hawkers – again, only temporarily.
Traffic police also agree that regulating traffic is mush easier when it rains.
Motorists are also happy. “Except on Sundays, when all government offices and Madras High Court are closed, we cannot travel on NSC Bose Road, especially between Flower Bazaar police station and Broadway traffic junction easily. On an average, it takes at least 20 minutes to cross these two points during weekdays,” said S. Krishnan, a motorist from Vepery.
