CHENNAI: With broad and empty pathways, and enough ramps to give them an edge, the City Corporation’s lorry depot in Tiruvottiyur has become the hotspot for bikers to perform dangerous stunts and conduct races.
The depot, built at a cost of over Rs 5 lakh, has been lying vacant since last year.
It is meant to be a parking space for garbage trucks and compactor vehicles.
The disuse has made the depot accessible to a few youngsters, who have been regularly sneaking in, to practise their motorbike stunts.
A video shared by residents with Express shows youth performing stunts such as wheeling and stoppie.
When Express visited the spot, though the gates of the 4,000 sq ft campus were locked with chains, motorbikes were seen parked inside the depot.
None of the three buildings inside the campus, built to accommodate the staff members, were locked. Glass doors of some buildings were broken and alcohol bottles were strewn across the premises. Ironically, though the depot has been unused for a year, some people have given it three and four star ratings on Google Maps.
When Express brought this to the attention of Corporation officials, they immediately locked the doors permanently so that miscreants do not enter in the future.
“A proposal with estimates will be prepared to replace locks and fence the compound walls,” said a top official with Thiruvottiyur Zone, adding that currently, about 20 vehicles of Zone 1 are parked in the depot in Manali (Zone 2) and works are on to shift the vehicles to the newly built depot.
Traffic police officials have booked about 1,000 cases in the past year for illegal bike racing.
“Cases are normally booked under section 279 (Rash and negligent driving) and section 336 (Doing any act which endangers human life or the personal safety of others),” said a traffic police official. He said that if people race in any open land apart from roads, it is illegal.
“There are registered racing areas like in Irungattukottai where people professionally race. It is unacceptable for people to practise stunts in a Corporation lorry shed,” said the official.
Plans in the pipeline
Currently, about 20 vehicles of Zone 1 are parked in the depot in Manali (Zone 2) and works are on to shift the vehicles to the newly built depot.