A couple of weeks ago, on Sarathy Nagar Main Road in Velachery, Arun Raj heard a dog whimpering, and discovered that it had sustained a head injury. Checking the CCTV footage to find out what had caused the canine harm led him to the moving images of a water tanker, one pressed into service on behalf of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (CMWSSB).
Arun says, “The footage showed that the driver was driving recklessly, not slowing down even at the turn of the street.”
Madhusudhanan Sampath, another resident, points out that a few days ago, a parked car in one of the streets of Sarathy Nagar missed being hit by a speeding water tanker, by a whisker.
CMWSSB tankers passing via the interior lanes of Sarathy Nagar is a problem that its residents have endured for many years. This March, Sarathy Nagar Residents Welfare Association made a complaint about this continuing menace to the CMWSSB Area Office and Greater Chennai Traffic Police this March.
“CMWSSB officials promised that they would instruct their contractors and drivers about this. The tankers were off out streets for two weeks. By passing through Sarathy Nagar, drivers of water tankers avoid the congested Taramani-Velachery Link Road. The streets in Sarathy Nagar are however narrow, with sharp bends, and hardly meant for water tankers to pass through. Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day, once in 15 minutes, a water tanker passes through Sarathy Nagar,” says Gokhul, secretary of the Association.
Residents point out these tankers ride over stormwater drains and they are likely to get broken anytime.
“Some of the drivers honk raucously and play loud music. When I made a complaint to a CMWSSB official, I was not prepared for the reply I received. He sympathised with the contractors and said that they take the interior lanes to save on fuel. The traffic police have promised to look into the issue, but no action has been taken so far,” says T.K. Kumaravelu, vice-president of the Association.
“Slow in their reflexes, senior citizens taking a walk through the neighbourhood are in danger on account of speeding water tankers. CMWSSB should take measures to stop its vehicles from entering our neighbourhood,” says Hari Priya Ramesh, joint-secretary of the Association.
