Hundreds of residents of Padi Kuppam Road, including school students and women, staged a protest on Sunday demanding the closure of a Tasmac shop that reopened recently. They claimed tipplers on the road had made the stretch unsafe for people.
For the past ten years, the Tasmac shop was functioning on Padikuppam Road. It was closed after the Supreme Court directed the respective State governments to remove liquor shops on National and State highways. However, it was reopened two weeks ago after stretches of the highway running inside the city were denotified as city roads.
“This Tasmac shop is close to the Ambattur Estate Road. Every day, there is a huge traffic pile-up in the locality due to tipplers gathering in front of the shop, which is located at the entrance of Padi Kuppam Road. When the shop was closed for a few months, the road was free,” said A.T. Bojarajan, executive committee member, Maples Orchard Ben Foundation.
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Even on Saturday, the traffic went for a toss after a drunk man was lying on the road. “Schoolchildren and women find it difficult to walk past the shop. People consume alcohol and drive the vehicle in a reckless manner, making it dangerous for pedestrians and other motorists alike,” said J. Chidambara Perumal, a resident.
He said that people often indulged in brawls at an eatery adjacent to the Tasmac shop. “They sometimes throw stones on buildings nearby. We lodge police complaints, but the relief is always temporary. The tipplers have made this stretch an open bar and urinal,” added Mr. Perumal.