Adding more chaos to the ‘City of Chaos’

K Ramanathan Iyar/Chennai

“Soon, one-way traffic movement will be introduced in busy roads of Chennai. The State Government and the Chennai City Police have decided to make commuting in the Metro a motorist-friendly experience by regulating movement of traffic.”

What a great move by the City’s so-called ‘thinkers’ to make the ‘City of Chaos’ even more chaotic. This shows the lack of ‘proactive’ thinking by the city’s bigwigs, who always try to find a ‘quick-fix’ solution to any civic issue.

Here onwards people would have to travel more in the city to reach their destinations and thereby up their travel bills. The government’s decision would also increase the state’s petroleum consumption and hence add more burden on India’s oil needs in the international market. The decision would also have a staggering impact on state’s economy.

When cities like Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune and Bangalore are planning ahead of 10 years by constructing more bridges and roads, this southern metropolis is talking in terms of taking the city backward.

Already most of the multinational companies in Chennai are ruing for poor ‘infrastructure’ and thinning of profit margins due to heavy travel costs etc, the decision to make most of city roads ‘one-way’ would only scare them away to nearby states which have better infrastructure like roads and rail links to ship their products to various places within India and abroad.

Already several roads such as Arcot road connecting Kodambakkam and Vadapalani and Kodambakkam Bridge to Anna Flyover had been made as one way zone long ago giving more inconvenience to commuters during peek time.

People have been witnessing the congestion on the Kodambakkam High Road/ Bridge since four decades. What the subsequent governments (DMK or AIADMK) have done to de-congest the city roads other than fighting among themselves for power?

The Kodambakkam Bridge connects important places in Chennai like Ashok Nagar, Saligramam, Virugambakkam, Porur and Poonamalli, which even links southern cities like Bangalore. Same with the case of T Nagar, the shopping hub of the city.

Instead of making roads only for one-way movement of vehicles, the government should broaden all city roads by removing encroachments and illegal constructions. Several roads are unfit even for pedestrian use; they should be repaired and tarred. For this task, private parties should be engaged to avoid pilferage of public funds.

The money collected through road tax from vehicle users should be properly utilized to repair roads. Effective drainage system should be constructed along the roads so as to avoid waterlogging during rainy seasons, which is the major cause of road damage.

The corporation can even take over some of the residential areas for construction of alternate routes to regulate traffic by paying adequate compensation to the owners of building or plots. These people should also be given alternate land or house in an area, which has adequate civic facilities.

If the government really wants to solve the ever-growing traffic problems in the city and make the city a truly ‘world class’ one as being claimed by some of the political leaders, they should call up top architects of India to design the ‘Modern Chennai’ instead of relaying on the ‘incompetent’ and ‘corrupt’ officials of the Corporation and Municipality.