CHENNAI: In the unsparing roads of T Nagar where pedestrians are pushed to the margins, the by-lane connecting Usman Road and Mambalam railway station could be a saviour if available to the public, assert residents.
Between the bustling Ranganathan and Natesan Streets, the by-lane that is almost 12 ft wide, is unusable to the public for years. One-half of the lane is used as a parking space by shops lining the stretch and for storing their goods while the other half is used as an open public toilet.
T Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association secretary B Kannan said the lane that led to the railway station would come as a blessing to pedestrians who already had a tough time weaving through the streets in the area.
Past the shops and the parked two-wheelers, the stretch also had piles of goods that residents claim belonged to shopkeepers. The heaped goods made it impossible for anyone to use the by-lane to get to the railway station from Usman Road and vice versa.
A staff of a tailor shop along the side of the by-lane said, “We clean the road every day and make sure people don’t use this as a urinating spot.”
When contacted, zonal corporation officials said that they would take necessary steps to ensure that the stretch was cleared for public use in a month.