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notjustinfo.com |
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Knowledge centre for MBA students. |
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Traffic Scenario in Chennai Part II R Jaygopal After browsing
through the first part of this article last week, you would have had enough
time to experience personally the reality of the situation on the roads of
Chennai. Or rather, the potholes of Chennai, because that is the
current state today. What a glorious vision of a Singara Chennai , our
worshipful Mayor has. And to add to that confusion is the ambition of his
father, the Hon. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to turn Chennai into a city of
bridges and highways. I suspect that this wish of his has got something to do
with the phrase Information Superhighway . Whether he achieves in the former
or not, he is fulfilling his ambition by building bridges or flyover as he chooses
to call it. As a result, even the smallest of roads like Peters Road and TTK
Road in Alwarpet (already congested to the point of choking) has been dug up
for laying flyovers realising little that the width of the proposed flyovers
are more than the existing road width. This is probably one of the biggest problems facing
motorists and the traveling public alike. Chaos, diversions, accidents,
one-ways etc. are the order of the day. Can’t our esteemed planners visualise
this in advance. Anyway there are other problems facing us today like: Speeding lorries, transport corporation buses, fish carts,
omnibuses, Autos etc. all driving as if they own the road. Vehicles derive
unlimited pleasure in going through a one way or crossing a junction even
after the signal has turned red. This is so because; our traffic policemen
are mute spectators, as most of the vehicles are owned either by their own
higher-ups or by MLAs & MPs. But who is the scapegoat in this so that the
police department can achieve their targets? You guessed it right; it is the poor two-wheeler rider.
Always caught on one pretext or the other and squeezed for 50 or 100 bucks as
the mood and occasion may warrant. The other day there was an article in The Hindu, where the
reader gave a heart-rending narration of his experience at the hands of these
traffic behemoths. All that he had done was park his two-wheeler at the side
on Nelson Manickam Road to step into a shop. On his return he found it about
to be towed away. On enquiry he was told that he had parked his vehicle in a
no parking zone. When it was mentioned that there wasn’t a board indicating
it, he was threatened to be put in jail and his vehicle towed away ignoring
his pleas. A resolute man that he was, he decided to pursue the
matter with the inspector concerned at the police station where the vehicle
had been towed away. The not-so-polite inspector there was kind enough t o
inform him that as the CM was to pass that way, this action was resorted to
and that he could pay the fine of Rs. 100 and leave or attend court the
following week. At this point his resoluteness gave way to common sense and
he left with a lighter pocket, as he didn’t have much confidence in the
judicial system. The above incident is not a rare one and happens to scores
of people everyday, here I refer to the common man like you and me. On the other hand speeding lorries and dumper trucks have
been causing accidents with impunity. Driving mostly on the pavements where
poor laborers sleep or crashing into two wheelers from the back. What then is the solution to all these problems? The first and foremost solution could be in improving
infrastructure in terms of roads, functioning signal systems, wider medians
free of hawkers, proper foot over bridges, well lighted and policed subway
crossings etc. Next could be a disciplined and honest police force that
is more of a friend than a terror to citizens. Here too care should be taken
to curb the influence of politicians. Then would come revising the existing laws that date back
to ages and tightening loopholes to ensure the offender doesn’t escape.
Ensure accountability right from the RTO level where driving licenses are
issued to all and sundry without proper tests up to the legislators and
traffic planners. Last but not the least a common sense approach is needed
from us. By this we mean that as responsible citizens, we should realise that
the roads belong to each one of us and that if everyone tries to test their
vehicles performance unmindful of the pain caused to others it will result
only in chaos. Quite often we have seen owners cheering their drivers to
break all rules or even defending him when he has broken the law. This only
gets reflected onto our children, who after growing up tend to drive in much
the same way with not even a sign of protest from parents. Let us make a start today by driving responsibly and
carefully. There is always the racetrack for speed maniacs. As responsible
citizens of this glorious city, it is upon us to make that first gesture be
it in allowing someone to overtake or reprimanding a fellow traveler for rash
driving. Once we all start doing our bit, this could turn into a movement and
force the hands of the Govt. in improving the traffic conditions. ...Concluded. |
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