Pedestrians avoid the footover bridge connecting EVR Periyar Salai in Periamet and the Cooum River Bridge Road in Chintadripet like the plague. Reason: Lack of illumination, the location of a poorly maintained open toilet and the presence of tipplers make walking through the bridge after sunset unsafe. The bridge comes under the maintenance and jurisdiction of the Southern Railway.
Many pedestrians take a detour to avoid taking the bridge. The stretch abutting the tracks near the Chennai Park railway station FOB has a lone lighting facility.
The stretch is misused as a dumping ground, and that including dumping of abandoned vehicles. Some pedestrians board buses or depend on private modes of transport to avoid taking this facility.
Adding to commuters’ woes, there are no steps at the FOB to connect platforms one, two and three at Park railway station. Electrical Multiple Units (EMU) commuters from Chintadripet have to put themselves at risk and cross the tracks to reach platforms 1 and 2 for entraining EMU trains. Some pedestrians jump over the wall at the FOB and cross the tracks to go to platform 3.
It is mandatory to construct steps connecting an FOB and the platforms at a railway station, says D. Sathyanarayanan, a senior citizen and an activist.
“It is quite common to see tipplers consuming alcohol on the steps of the FOB even in broad daylight,” says V. Shanthi, a school teacher who uses the stretch.
Commuters and pedestrians from Chintadripet walk through EVR Periyar Salai, Periyamet till the Government College of Fine Arts intersection, Gandhi-Irwin Bridge Road, Egmore and through Krishnappa Chetty Street, Chintadripet.
Police patrolling must be intensified on the Cooum River Bridge Road, say commuters.
