CHENNAI: Residents of Tiruvottiyur West have urged the government to build a subway to cross the railway track opposite Ernavoor Bhajanai Kovil Street as they now have to take a circuitous route through the Ernavoor bridge or risk their lives and cross the track to access hospitals and a crematorium.
The residents say nearly 1 lakh people live around Sathiyamoorthy Nagar, Shanmugapuram, Ramanathapuram, Ernavoor, Mullai Nagar and Mahalakshmi Nagar. To reach the crematorium and other facilities near Ernavoor beach, they need to take the bridge, increasing their travel by 5 km. “Since lorries cause traffic congestion on Ernavoor bridge, people prefer to cross the railway track. People transport bodies to the crematorium in vans till the Ernavoor bus stand, and then carry them on their shoulders across the track,” said A Parathasarathy, a resident.
The busy railway track is used by trains between Chennai Central and Gummidipoodi, as well as Andhra-bound express and goods trains. To reach the hospital in the Tsumani quarters, even pregnant women are forced to cross the track on foot, residents said.
“Even people travelling to various parts of Chennai cross the track and take a bus to avoid getting stuck in traffic,” said S Meenakshi, another resident, asserting that a they need a pedestrian-friendly subway.Meanwhile, Ward 4 councillor S Jayaraman said he met North Chennai MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy and urged him to ask Railways and Corporation officials to build a subway in the locality soon.