Residents of Sri Sai Nagar have done something about a problem that has been weighing heavy on their minds. They were worried about their safety, especially that of children, as heavy vehicles would trundle through Sri Sai Nagar. These vehicles would come from Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial Road, entering Sri Sai Nagar through Second Main Road, and get into Rajiv Gandhi Salai.
To put an end to this problem, the Sri Sai Nagar Residents Welfare Association has constructed pillars on Sri Sai Nagar Second Main Road.
Those operating the heavy vehicles were doing this to evading the fee at the two toll gates (one on the Rajiv Gandhi Salai and the other on Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial Road) and also to save time. Some car drivers were also taking this route for the same reasons.
“We were not spared at night as well. Lorries, private buses and cars would pass through our colony. It used to be noisy through the night,” says Thangaraj, an association member. “Between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., during weekdays, the colony witnesses chaotic traffic. There is a school in our neighbourhood. Children walk or cycle to the school. It would be scary to watch children negotiating their way through heavy vehicles,” says Vanitha, a mother of a child who goes to this school.
With accidents occurring frequently, the residents’ welfare association decided to take this course of action. “We did not want to wait till a fatal accident would force us to do it,” says Thangaraj about the move to raise the pillars.
“After construction of these pillars, the problem has been solved to a certain extent. We have succeeded in preventing the cars and heavy vehicles from entering the colony. But, two-wheelers continue to pass through our interior roads,” he says. Residents use another route to take their cars out of the neighbourhood.
According to R. Nagarajan, another member of the association, “The pillars were constructed with the consent from the Corporation and the Councillor. Now, we have plans to have security guards at the entrance of Second Main Road.”
“Such constructions in the middle of the road are not allowed. But we understand that the residents had a genuine problem and at times we allow them to do so,” says an official.
