For parents and students, school time means waking up early, cobbling up snacks and completing their homework. For motorists and residents of neighbourhoods that have many schools, it means slogging through traffic-congested roads, partly the result of private vans and vehicles dropping off and picking up students.
As schools fail to provide designated parking spaces, private van drivers and parents are forced to park their vehicles on the roads or in nearby residential areas — some have their vehicles parked for long hours.
Many a time, the school management turns a blind eye to the chaos unravelling outside their premises, including double parking, haphazard parking and noise pollution. When requests to the school management goes unheeded, residents are forced to take matters into their hands.
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Here are some cases that demonstrate how several residents’ associations are preventing unauthorised school parking in their neighbourhood.
Padmavathiyar Road,
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With around seven schools located in and around Padmavathiyar Road, Gopalapuram, traffic snarls were a common sight — until a year ago. Vehicles would arrive two hours prior to closing hours at the school, and private vans found comfortable spots in the neighbourhood. As it started causing inconvenience to the residents of Jeypore Colony on Padmavathiyar Road, they introduced several measures to deal with the situation.
After holding talks with private van owners, Jeypore Colony Residents Association (JCRA) allowed a few vans to be stationed in the neighbourhood till 4.30 p.m.
Bumper stickers were also issued to these van owners. On informing the Police Commissioner about this, police patrolling and recovery vans too were deployed on the street.
“Around 9.30 a.m., the recovery van goes around the neighbourhood and locks any unauthorised vehicles. By 4.30 p.m., all vans leave the neighbourhood. Of course, there will be the odd van driver who would stay put. Around 5.30 p.m., the recovery vehicle patrols again and either books cases or warns them,” says a member of JCRA.
Manohar Avenue,
Egmore
With Don Bosco School abutting Manohar Avenue in Egmore, the latter has become an an ideal spot for private vehicles to be parked, before and during school hours. For several years, residents of Manohar Avenue have found many unauthorised vehicles parked on the narrow cul-de-sac.
“In fact, I think, this would be the only road that shares a compound wall with a school. Hence, the chaos,” points out Vishnu Prasad, secretary of Manohar Avenue Residents Association.
Putting an end to the traffic problem on the lane, the residents hired a security guard to prevent unauthorised parking.
“For the last five years, the security staff has been able to keep off school vans and parents from parking on the Avenue. He allows only the residents and regular visitors to enter the avenue,” says Vishnu.
Harrington Road,
Chetpet
With several schools found in the neighbourhood, Harring ton Road has also been battling this issue. Private school vans and vehicles choke the traffic in the morning and evening.
When schools blithely dismissed their petitions, 14th Avenue decided to lead the way.
“Being a dead end, 14th Avenue often saw a huge number of school vehicles encroaching upon our space.
To put an end to this, we had installed drop gates and hired security guards,” says a member of Harrington Road Residents’ Association (HRRA).
Soon, avenues such as 15th Avenue, 13th Avenue and recently 2nd Avenue adopted a similarly stringent measure.
Stretches of these avenues are being converted into ‘No parking’ and ‘Tow Zone’ sections.
Regular police patrolling and one-sided parking are other measures that have been taken in the neighbourhood to deal with the problem.