An issue that has been annoying residents on Station Border Road in Chromepet is non-functional street lights, which are maintained by Southern Railways.
They are reportedly not functioning for many years. We have complained to Southern Railways several times about this. Though they take steps to repair them, the lights hardly function, residents say.
“Many use the stretch to go to Nehru Nagar, Bashyam Nagar and Bhuvaneshwari Nagar. As the stretch is poorly-lit, minor accidents have occurred frequently and tipplers could be seen having alcohol,” S. Mary, a resident says. “As the road is relatively free, thefts like chain-snatching are on the rise,” she adds.
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“To avoid this dark stretch, many tend to walk along the tracks up to Nehru Nagar Hastinapuram Main Road and Nehru Nagar Chitlapakkam Main Road (beneath the MIT Flyover). A few years ago, a software professional was fatally knocked down by a train. She might have crossed the tracks to avoid the dark stretch,” says V. Santhanam, secretary, Chromepet Railway Users Forum.
Next, people take to service lanes of Grand Southern Trunk Roadto go to Hasthinapuram and Chitlapakkam, he adds.
“The Southern Railways should hand over the maintenance of street lights to Pallavapuram Municipality,” says a commuter, on condition of anonymity.
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Apart from repairing the street lights, a few more lamp posts need to be installed. At present, the posts have been set up every 100 metres. But a lamp post is needed every 50 metres, say commuters.
Official sources in Southern Railways say the streetlights on the stretch were repaired recently, and have promised to look into the complaints.