CHENNAI : When Prakash Goutham was driving from Alwarpet towards Teynampet on Eldams Road, the side mirror of his car was knocked down by a two-wheeler rider, who entered the one-way stretch from the opposite direction. When an argument broke out, the rider rudely told Prakash ‘Nobody cares about one way and neither should you.’
“They not only scream at you, but also justify their actions. During peak hours, Eldams Road is a mess. Even cars come in the opposite direction and there is no space for anybody to move. Also, there is no traffic personnel to stop these violations,” said Prakash, a resident of Kotturpuram.The city has 160-odd one-way stretches, which are blatantly used as two-way roads, even by police personnels resulting in traffic pile-up and accidents.
“When I question people who ignore the one-way system, I face a volley of abuses from them,” said, Chandramohan V, a resident of Triplicane. Shollinganallur signal is one such spot where one-way violations are rampant, he pointed out. “To avoid taking U-turn, motorists and share autos travel on the wrong side of the road. This happens even at the Medavakkam-OMR toll booth. When I questioned the auto drivers, they said nothing can stop this practice, and justified their violations too,” he added.
Such violations are rampant near schools. Luz Church Road from Nageshwara Rao Park till MCTM School in Mylapore, Poonamallee High Road from Pachaiyappas College signal towards MVM School in Chetpet, and the stretch between DAV Boys school to Bharath Petroleum bunk in Thirumangalam are few such locations where parents violate one-way norms on a daily basis. “Thirumangalam has many schools and most of the violators are parents. I have had arguments with home guards and the traffic police who themselves ignore these violations. I get yelled at by parents too if I question this,” said Dinakaran Ganesh, a resident.
But, as motorists violate one-ways intentionally, along with a penalty of `100, they are fined for negligence at `1,000 under the Motor Vehicles Act, said a senior police official. “As one-way violations do not come under the eight lead traffic violations, people take this very lightly. Due to lack of manpower, it is impossible to man every one-way road. People should also cooperate along with the police,” he added.
List of one-way roads which are violated
Mylapore: Gowdia Mutt Road till Royapettah police station, Oliver Road near CIT Colony, entire two-kilometre stretch from Devanathan Street to St Mary’s Road to Ramakrishna Mutt Road in Mandaveli
Adyar: Gandhinagar First Main Road from Adyar bus terminus
Vadapalani Duraisamy Road near Vadapalani post office, near Vadapalani bridge on 100ft road outside SIMS hospital
ECR: From SRP Tools to Thiruvanmiyur, from Karappakkam to Okkiyam Thuraippakkam, from Sholinganallur Toll (ECR side) to Sholinganallur signal
Pallavaram/Chrompet Dargah Road and Near Saravana Stores in Chromepet, Medavakkam Main Road before Keelkattalai
T Nagar: Pinjala Subramaniam Road, GN Chetty Road near Sun Plaza
Royapettah: Thiru Vi Ka Road outside Sathyam Cinemas, Mundakanni Amman Kovil Street stretch outside Sanskrit College
Ashok Nagar: From Ashok Pillar to Udhayam Theatre