Who stole my pavement? Ripped apart for civic work, roads around Ripon building go even with city routes

With ongoing works including Metro Rail and stormwater drain construction, and lack of pavements and encroachments on the four roads abutting it, even the Ripon Building — the headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation — neighbourhood is no different from other city streets for pedestrians.

The front side of the Ripon Building, facing EVR Periyar Road, is giving nightmares to the pedestrians. Being one of the arterial roads of Chennai, it has a large number of MTC buses, autorickshaws and taxis plying to and from Chennai Central railway station. However, the road has shrunken due to Metro Rail works.

Even though a makeshift arrangement has been provided in the form of iron railings to separate pavement and the road, the gap is narrow and it does not allow two persons to walk in tandem. The iron railings are intermittent at some parts, starting from Sydenhams Road Junction to Allikulam Link Road Junction. This exposes the pedestrians to speeding buses and cars.

The Ripon Building is surrounded by EVR Periyar Road to its east, Allikulam Link Road to the north, Ripon Building Link Road to the west and Sydenhams Road to its south.

On Sydenhams Road, up to Ripon Building Link Road, the traffic has been made one-way due to the ongoing Metro Rail works. While the vehicle traffic is banned on the North side of the road, where the Periamet police station and an entrance to the Ripon Building are located, stormwater drains works on the southern side is forcing the pedestrians on to the road, putting them indanger's way.

In places where the stormwater drain works are yet to be started, the pavement is narrow and encroached by the protracted portion of the shops.

Ripon Building Link Road is relatively better in terms of maintenance and the provision for given pavement. White lines are provided on the road to mark pavements. However, garbage bins placed on the pavement and stench from them hinder pedestrians from using them. Ripon Building Link Road is one-way and vehicles are allowed only to ply towards MMC railway station.

On the other hand, Allikulam Link Road that connects Allikulam Complex and MMC railway station is rife with encroachments by shops. Allikulam Link Road is an extension of Ripon Building Link Road and white lines mark the pavement. But a large number of shops including eateries, mobile phone service shops and other shops extend to the pavement, even encroaching the road in some cases.

After the MMC railway station entrance, the Allikulam Link Road turns into a two-way stretch, but the ongoing Metro Rail works impede pedestrians' movement. Vehicles headed to the Central railway station's parking lot use this road so does the pedestrians heading to MMC and Central stations. However, the lack of pavement makes negating the speeding vehicles difficult — and many a time, risky — for pedestrians.