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Who stole my pavement? Vepery High Road has several issues that endanger pedestrians
Vepery High Road is a commercial hub with many shops located along the road. It connects Sydenhams Road and EVK Sampath Salai, running parallel to Poonamallee High Road. All these roads see heavy traffic as they are surrounded by important government offices, places of worship, sports stadiums and the central railway station.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
The neglect of facilities for pedestrians at such a crucial part of the city is an indictment of the callous attitude towards the citizens. Vepery High Road is rife with encroached pavements.
Dustbins have been placed on the pavement blocking the path of the pedestrians. Not only does this take up much-needed space, as a result of littering, much garbage ends up on the road next to the dustbins, making a larger radius unusable. Some of the bins are broken, rendering them useless.
Junction boxes and other assorted street furniture also take up space that should belong to the pedestrians in the area. As traffic peaks during the day, those who take to foot are forced to step on to the road under dangerous conditions as a result of ill thought out street design.
Other problems for pedestrians are caused by illegal parking on pavements. The residential and commercial buildings in the area use the footpath as a parking space. Cars, two-wheelers and carts dominate the footpaths.
“I have a shop here for the last seven years. The state of the road has barely improved. The parking still continues on the footpath.
Sometimes police come to clear them, but they are back again the very next day,” said Kannadasan.
Construction debris is another common issue that is unaddressed on most streets in the city. The road here is also strewn with debris from buildings. The concrete pieces are thrown on to the pavement and left for the civic authorities to pick up while by law the builders are to dispose of them.
Ultimately the pedestrians pay the price as they lose pavements to the debris that sits unattended for weeks and continues to pile up.
“I don’t have much hope of things changing. We have tried to intervene and bring some accountability.
If you look at the number of people who walk here and use the railway station or just shop, the pedestrians must be given a priority. Ban all vehicles from entering the road. But here we do not even have a small chunk of the road to walk safely on,” laments Sudha, a resident.
As shops continue to dominate the footpaths with displays, seating and parking on the pavement, pedestrians are continually thrust in danger in the high traffic area.
Vepery High road is no different from the many other parts of the city where pedestrians are second class citizens.
—If you have been robbed of your pavement, write to us. Send us a note and a picture, and we will carry it in this column. Email us at citizen.dtnext@dt.co.in
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