CHENNAI: Despite the numerous flyovers and one-way routes to reduce congestion on arterial roads in the city, the traffic scene during peak hours is getting chaotic day by day.
The latest ‘irritants’ are the 100-odd heavy compactor vehicles used by Neel Metal Fanalca, a private agency, and Chennai Corporation to empty garbage bins.
“In order to manoeuvre the narrow Triplicane High Road during peak hour in the morning, one needs special skill and lots of patience. A compactor vehicle used by Neel Metal Fanalca to lift big bins stops at different places without taking into account the traffic building up behind the vehicle,” said Dayalan, a motorist.
Since most road-users are in a hurry to reach their offices and business establishments on time, the ‘irritants’ park themselves in the middle of the road and completely block the traffic, said another motorist. The garbage should be removed in the early hours of the day instead of during peak hours.
According to a few other motorists, Triplicane High Road was not the only one affected by the compactors. Arterial roads in areas including Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, Vadapalani, Pulianthope and Perambur face a similar problem.
On a solution to the problem, a top official in Neel Metal Fanalca said: “There is an assigned method of cleaning, which is performed by a hierarchy of staff. Compactors march out from the shed once our supervisor confirms that enough garbage has been dumped in the big bins by the staff, who move with bicycle fitted with small bins.” Most of them deposit the collected litter only after 8 am and invariably the compactors have to hit the streets only after that, he added.
A senior corporation official said: “If traffic snarls happen just because of compactor movements during peak hours, we will reschedule their movement after 11 am. We cannot simply send compactors in the early hours, as sanitary staff collect and dump litters in large bins only after 8 am.”