Under usual circumstances, tyres and wheels are wedded in a union of utmost compatibility and mutual respect. At Seethamma Extension, tyres and wheels are often a couple at loggerheads and engaged in bitter “custodial battle”.
Here is the why of it.
Residents of Seethamma Extension are on the alert against unwelcome wheels that stray into the neighbourhood, and they have co-opted used tyres into the tussle to regain their legitimate road space. The sight of painted tyres topped with ornamental plants gives Seethamma Colony in Teynampet its unique look, and also a peek into its most persistent problem — unauthorised parking.
There is sense of “antiquity” about Seethamma Extension’s struggle with unauthorised parking.
RP Rajkumar, president, Seethamma Extension Welfare Association draws attention to one of the most remarkable battles from the past: “Van Vigil Walk”, an exercise to keep mini vans out of the neighbourhood’s streets. These vans were catering to students of a college nearby on KB Dasan Salai.
While the bogey of mini-vans honking the living daylights out of residents has been cast out, the larger evil of unauthorised parking continues in smaller but equally irksome forms. Cars and motorcyles are parked now, notes Rajkumar in a tone that hardly masks his irritation.
The tyres are moved away. They are stolen. In fact, passersby lay unabashed hands on plants. Rajkumar discloses that there have been instances of people stepping out of cars, under cover of darkness, and taking away plants. Residents found this out with the help of CCTV footage.
Incidentally, SEWA is among RWAs that do not take a penny-pinching attitude towards neighbourhood security. “Not only have we installed a good number of CCTV cameras, but we put aside Rs. 10,000 every year for their maintenance.”
“The tyres might be moved and the plants might go missing, but we are not giving up this fight,” says Rajkumar.
The SEWA president remarks that they had settled on this strategy after many conventional measures fell short of desired results.
He recalls how conversations with the local police station led to a fining system, which at best provided results that were inconsistent.
“After people would be fined on the spot for unauthorised parking, there would be a respite from it only for a couple of days. The vehicles would eventually return.”
To regulate vehicular traffic movement, SEWA also turned to having plastic poles as median.
“We got a written permission from the police to have them installed at the entrances of some of the streets. A section of the residents objected to this measure, but it has been found to be effective, and there are sections where we might have to introduce them,” reveals Rajkumar.
SEWA has also successfully sought permission to install plastic speed-breakers to check youngsters who had taken a fancy to the neighbourhood, and threatened to turn it into a spot for wheelies.
Says Rajkumar, “Seeing these youngsters acting so recklessly, we were concerned for their safety.”
At Seethamma Extension First Main Road | Photo Credit: Prince Frederick
