Walk along the scarcely-found pavements in Chrompet, chances of you colliding with an electric pole are more. Coupled with this is the fact that majority of the walking-space is encroached on major roads such as GST Road and Rajendra Prasad Road.
“Most of the footpaths are incomplete and pose danger to everyone. The stretch opposite NSN School in Nehru Nagar has iron rods protruding, prompting people to request Municipal authorities to take immediate action,” said Natraj, a resident.
“Even busy stretches like Radha Nagar Main Road and CLC Works Road lack pavements. Due to this, the public are forced to walk on the carriageway as multiple complaints filed proved to be futile,” said Santhanam, another resident.
The locals here also point out the ‘lethargic’ nature of Pallavapuram Municipality and Highways, towards carrying out regular checks to monitor the offending vendors.
In the case of Rajendra Prasad Road, more than eight banks, a school, four religious shrines, two petrol bunks and a bus depot are present. Also, this results in the increased usage of private vehicles, with activists pointing out that the parking of two-wheelers is causing further inconvenience to commuters. For this, Santhanam suggested the placement of a barricade-like structure to ensure that two-wheelers are not parked on pavements.
Another major flout, as residents state, is that in majority of the streets, the officials have placed concrete labs over storm water drains instead of laying proper structures.
“Even the slabs are not laid well, as broken pieces can be spotted in several lanes,” said Santhanam.
This has led David Manohar, a resident activist, filing a complaint with the Highways Department about encroachments on GST Road about three months ago, but in
vain.
Calls made to the Municipality on the other hand, went unanswered.