Residents of Nesamani Nagar, Perumbakkam, have appealed to the Greater Chennai Traffic Police to take steps to repair the defunct pedestrian- and vehicular signals at the intersection of Prabhu Nagar Road, First Main Road and Medavakkam High Road, Perumbakkam. As the signals at the junction blink through the day, negotiating the intersection has become a nightmare for motorists.
Traffic moves at a snail’s pace right from a lane near a private hospital at Indira Priyadarshini Nagar. To avoid getting caught in traffic congestion, many motorcyclists, from Rajiv Gandhi Salai and proceeding towards Medavakkam, come in the wrong direction till the intersection.
Besides, residents have requested the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation to take steps to construct a road overbridge on Medavakkam High Road to control traffic congestion. It is one of the crucial stretches in the neighbourhood that connects Velachery Main Road, IT Corridor, East Coast Road, Sholinganallur, Akkarai and Pallikaranai.
Removal of toll plaza
Requests pour in for the removal of a toll plaza on Medavakkam High Road, near Special Economic Zone – Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SEZ-ELCOT), Sholinganallur. Residents say the toll is causing traffic congestion during rush hour.
N.K. Raja, vice-president, Nesamani Nagar Residents Welfare Association, says, “In 2006, the Apex Court passed an order observing that there should not be any toll plaza within city limits. The order is applicable to both the National Highways Authority of India and the State Highways. However, the toll plaza was facilitated on the stretch in 2008.”
“Repeated representations to the State Highways Department and the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation (TNRDC) since 2015 have gone in vain. Therefore, we sent a representation to the Information Commission. In its reply, the Commission has stated that the State government has issued a directive to the IT Expressway to maintain the facilities of IT Corridor Phase I and to collect toll fees for more than three decades from the date of operations. Further, the reply states that the toll plaza cannot be removed as the jurisdiction of then Chennai Corporation was extended in 2012.”
Residents are planning to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) as early as possible.
