Date:09/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/09/stories/2007100961220400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

It is arterial roads that bear the brunt of agitations

L. Srikrishna

Over the last 30 days, traffic was disrupted at 14 busy junctions

The agitators included the visually challenged, lawyers and college students
Vehicles like ambulances get caught in the traffic mess

CHENNAI: For people participating in protests , blocking traffic on arterial roads during rush hour seem to be the easiest way to draw attention of the authorities to their grievances.

Over the last 30 days, traffic was disrupted at 14 busy junctions in the city on different days during rush hour owing to various protests..

In some cases, traffic was thrown out of gear for over an hour . Among those who resorted to such protests were sections of the visually challenged people, lawyers, law and arts college students, police said.

Affected roads

The stretches, affected by the demonstrations, included Kamarajar Salai, Chetpet, Kodambakkam flyover, E.V.R. Salai, Kathipara junction, Parry’s Corner and George Town.

At a time when vehicles move at a snail’s pace along many busy stretches, such agitations only affect their movement further.

The time taken for police to restore normalcy, after the protests, is as much as 45 minutes in many cases, a police officer said.

A traffic policeman at Chetpet said that it did not require a large group to disrupt traffic. “A group of 10 persons is enough” he pointed out.

On Monday, 17 law students resorted to a road blockade in front of the Secretariat demanding release of law students from Salem detained in the prisons. Though the students were picked up for ‘unlawful assembly’ almost immediately, the police had tough time for about three hours advising them to withdraw their protest, said S. Choodeswaran, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Flower Bazaar).

A senior officer said that usually the law and order police preferred not to initiate action against lawyers who blocked roads in support of their demands unless there were clear instructions from the Government to do so .

The police opt to divert traffic whenever lawyers resorted to protests without prior notice. He recalled an incident where a group of lawyers took out a procession from Mylapore police station to the High Court via Kamarajar Salai and the Secretariat at 5 p.m. demanding action against a police officer.

Arrest and remand to judicial custody of such groups are resorted to only as the last resort, said a police officer. None of the agitators in the protests during the last 30 days was jailed for the offence.

‘Approach courts’

Motorists feel that the agitators should approach courts if their grievances are not addressed by the authorities concerned, as besides regular road-users, ambulances and vehicles used for maintaining essential services get caught in the traffic mess.