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Water woes
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With the rains come many a civic problem, including water-logged roads leading to traffic jams.
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WHILE COMMUTING in Chennai is always painful, this past week's cloudburst turned the knife in the wound. As rows of vehicles inched bumper-to-bumper on roads submerged in water, the city's storm water management, as also traffic management, came under a cloud once again. And the commuting tribe is, understandably, hot under the collar.
"We are paying road tax. And our right to demand good roads is indefeasible," fumes Vipin Sharma. "How can we expect our leaders who get to drive unhindered by traffic, thanks to protocol, to be alive to the problems of commuters? There should be a mandatory exercise whereby our leaders have to, for a day in a month, drive without the benefit of the protocol that holds up traffic for them."
"With a few showers, our roads disintegrate into water-filled craters. Though none of our roads is equal to the challenge posed by monsoon, the roads in suburban Chennai lose their very character as roads. The Arcot Road, in Valsaravakkam, looks like an obstacle course of trenches and water blocks. Valsaravakkam, along with other suburban areas, is the commuter belt.
While Chennai works downtown, it lives uptown. Traffic congestion on suburban roads leads to traffic snarls in the interior of the city. Every evening, at six, there are traffic snarls in Mahalingapuram and on North Usman Road, because the traffic towards Arcot Road is prodigious. Any traffic management system that does not account for the importance of commuter belts, would be an ill-advised one," says Sukumar.
"Singapore experiences rains round the year, but it has an effective storm water drain system that sponges away rain water even as it hits the ground. In Chennai, which has showers few and far between, is it not inexcusable that there are water-logged roads?" asks Aparna.
"In relation to the other metros, the Chennai-ite pays more for petrol. Add to it the daily traffic snarls, he ends up paying through the nose for fuel alone. And bad roads being a strain on the vehicle, he is a regular to the mechanic shop. Vehicle owners in Chennai are a pathetic lot," bemoans Dorairaj.
That does not mean that those who do not commute by their own vehicles are on velvet ground. Even bus commuters have their cup of woes. Listen to Suresh Kumar, who commutes to work by bus. "During the monsoon, it is difficult to alight from a bus on to dry ground. There is water-logging near most bus stands."
Going by the weatherman's forecast, rains are to continue. And going by our road managers' attitude, road users' woes will continue, too.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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