Perambur High Road no place for pedestrians

CHENNAI: The arterial Perambur High Road in North Chennai witnesses some of the heaviest traffic in the city, linking the railway station, bus terminus and dense residential-commercial pockets. While buses, autos and two-wheelers jostle for space on the road, those on foot face a tougher challenge. There is hardly a usable footpath along the stretch.

From Stephenson Road to Perambur railway station, hundreds of people walk daily to catch trains, buses or simply access neighbourhood shops. However, the footpaths here are broken, uneven or simply inaccessible. The first challenge comes from damaged stormwater drain covers. Precast concrete slabs are either broken or missing, with some replaced by makeshift tin sheets. "Most stumble while walking here. You have to be careful, especially at night," said Sangeetha (name changed), a tender coconut vendor. "The gaps and uneven surfaces make walking hazardous, especially for the elderly like us," she added.

According to residents, the issue has remained unaddressed for years. "The revamp of stormwater drains has not been taken up, making this stretch unsafe and unusable," said Raghukumar Choodamani, convener of the Perambur Neighbourhood Development Forum. Officials have said that proposals for reworking the drains exist, but have not provided a timeline for execution.

Further along the road towards the railway station, the situation changes, but not for the better. A section of footpath has been neatly laid with railings, but it stops midway and becomes inaccessible due to piles of construction debris and encroachments. "A proposal was cleared for continuous footpaths along the stretch, but the work has been halted until stormwater drain improvements are completed," said an official from the Bus Route Roads department. No clear timeline has been provided for resumption.

Adding to the mess, the Greater Chennai Corporation has designated portions of this stretch as an official vending zone. With vendors occupying sections of the footpath, space for pedestrians has been further reduced.

"The lack of coordination between departments and such incomplete work has made our daily commute miserable. On a road with this much traffic, safe pedestrian passages are essential," said an auto driver.