TIRUCHY: Vellamandi Road and the adjoining Quaide E Millath Road, which house some of the city’s landmarks, such as the decades-old Gandhi Market, are also one of the toughest places to commute through owing to the brazen encroachment by shopkeepers and vendors and the mindless violation of traffic rules, complain vehicle users and pedestrians alike. As a result, commuters say they get stranded for hours on end, making them late for work and the like. Besides the bustle from the market, the roads are used by buses to reach Central Bus Stand from Chathiram Stand.
Against this backdrop, the encroachment of the roads, particularly the stretch between Gandhi Market and Palakkarai roundabout on Quaide E Millath Road, by the shopkeepers and vendors restricts the movement of vehicles, especially buses, causing frequent traffic jams. The illegal and haphazard parking of bikes and cars eats into the remaining space, complain commuters.
The pedestrians say they are also left with few options but to find their way through the traffic as the encroachments have rendered the footpaths useless.
The drives by the city corporation and the police to clear the encroachments have brought little change, as the public says there is no mechanism in place to stop encroachers from occupying the roads and the footpaths again.
C Arjun, a local resident, said, "I regularly get caught in traffic snarls in the areas while commuting to office in the morning. City buses, ambulances and office-goers suffer the most. If the encroachments are removed, at least 80% of the traffic congestion would ease."
K Harish, a pedestrian on Quaide E Millath Road, said, "There are several challenges the roads face, like motorists entering 'no entry' zones, the heavy traffic and the presence of street vendors. Due to a lack of regulation, many trucks remain parked on the roads even after unloading goods. Amidst all these, our mobility is also affected."
When contacted, a senior city traffic police official said, "Even if we clear the encroachments on the roads, the shopkeepers keep coming back. The corporation did not cooperate with us to have the encroachments cleared permanently. We are planning to cordon off the space using ropes to avoid such encroachments."