The IT Corridor is always bustling with activity round the clock with hundreds of busy commuters heading to work. But here at Egattur in Navalur, it is a major setback.
The Navalur Toll Gate is a small, cramped toll gate located in the OMR stretch, bearing too much of a burden especially during its peak hours. The toll gate resembles a huge stampede that seems to have no resolve.
The peak hours see the toll gate suffocating amidst hundreds of vehicles, all stuck in a long wait which usually lasts 15 minutes or so, or even worse, stretches to half an hour. Troubled residents and commuters frown at the sight of the daunting crowd they have come to witness every day. The fact that the extreme left lane of the toll gate is closed due to the lack of personnel and booths contributes to the daily chaotic jam.
“The tremendous jam blocks the way out to the residents of few apartments where more than 2000
families reside. It costs us a huge chunk of our time in the morning and we end up spending half an
hour at the toll gate”, says a resident of TVH Taus, an apartment that directly links the toll gate. “It is
also proving to be quite a nuisance as they often shut down one of the four booths. A mere three
functioning booths for 200+ vehicles only causes more ruckus”, she adds.
Pouring fuel to the fire is the newly-opened The Marina Mall, increasing the traffic triple-fold during the weekends.
Every journey of these residents turns out to be a bumpy ride, with too many potholes scattered in the streets that link the toll gate. Moreover, they often find construction debris lying in the potholes, causing damage to their vehicles. The damaged broken roof of the toll gate hanging above the vehicles has also become a common sight now for the past few months.
In recent years, the dangerously high congestion has even resulted in several accidents the lives of these commuters are at stake. Recently, a senior citizen was almost run over by a van amid traffic and several vehicles were damaged by debris or other commuters in separate incidents. It particularly poses a threat to two-wheeler riders, as the commuters and their two-wheelers stand a higher chance of injury or damage.
In recent years, the dangerously high congestion has even resulted in several accidents the lives of these commuters are at stake. Recently, a senior citizen was almost run over by a van amid traffic and several vehicles were damaged by debris or other commuters in separate incidents. It particularly poses a threat to two-wheeler riders, as the commuters and their two-wheelers stand a higher chance of injury or damage.
Traffic has been overflowing day by day uncontrollably. The Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has promised to look into it and take action.
*Written for The Hindu*
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