The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) between Chennai Beach and Velachery, despite lacking in passenger amenities, has been popular for its hassle-free parking facilities and economic services.
However, one of the positives of the MRTS is all set to be lost with the Southern Railway having increased the parking charges at a few stations.
A senior official of the Southern Railway said that in stations where new parking contracts have been awarded, the rates have been increased. New parking contractors have been posted in the Taramani, Mandaveli and Chepauk stations with the Thiruvanmiyur station awaiting a parking contractor.
While refusing to cite any specific reason for the hike, he noted that the proximity of the information technology corridor at Taramani was one of several factors for the hike.
The Southern Railway has increased the parking fees for all vehicles, including cycles, two-wheelers and cars, with the fee for two-wheelers doubled to Rs. 10 and that for four-wheelers increased to Rs. 15, for every four hours, from Rs. 10.
B. Sadagopan, co-ordinator, Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Centre, said the hike was an ‘unfair trade practice’. He said there should be no discrimination among consumers by service providers, particularly government agencies. He added that apart from a uniform rate policy on parking fees, there was a need for a policy that allows vehicles with monthly passes to be parked at all suburban stations.
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Young men from outside Tamil Nadu, part of the workforce in a range of industries in Chennai, can now breathe easy with the city police relaxing certain norms imposed a few weeks ago.
In some pockets in the city’s southern suburbs that witnessed an alarming increase in chain-snatching incidents, owners of two-wheeler parking lots were instructed to keep a close watch on the movement of motorcycles bearing number plates of States such as Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, New Delhi and Maharashtra, among others.
“I had a scooter with a Bihar registration for many years and never encountered any problem,” says K. Mishra, a government employee who now owns a motorcycle with Chennai registration. He adds that he now sees policemen keeping a close watch on the movement of two-wheelers with number plates of other States.
“As per law we have to change the registration number when we move to a new State. Otherwise, there are a lot of checks,” says Satya. P. of Odisha, a engineer at a car manufacturing unit in Oragadam.
The police’s suspicions were proven right as six youths from Haryana were arrested recently for their alleged involvement in chain-snatching incidents in the suburbs.
“It was only for a brief while, as a reaction to the sudden spate of chain-snatching incidents, that we suspected the involvement of youth from outside Tamil Nadu. We will recall the instructions issued earlier,” points out a senior police officer.