The residents living in West Circular Street in Mandaveli, Chennai, are irked as the pedestrian pathways in the street do not have proper walking space.
Speaking to News Today, R Chandran, a long-time resident of the locality, says, “The problem has been persisting for a very long time. The pathway has been damaged and is not in a good condition to walk over it. I have been giving a complaint about it repeatedly to the Corporation and the local residents association but still, no action has been taken.”
He points out that at some places the tiles are broken and damaged dustbins and light poles also occupy it which makes people walk on the road. “The road is also not too wide but it wouldn’t have been a problem to walk on its sides, however, we could not do that as well as illegal parking of cars is at its peak here which cannot be controlled,” says Chandran.
“Most of the vehicles parked in this street belong to the residents of nearby streets and since most of the houses have a parking space here, those people comfortably use the space available here on the sides of the road. With the footpath
too unusable and with these vehicles occupying some portion of the road, senior citizens like me are forced to walk on the road with fear of getting hit by the vehicles,” he concludes.
Rangarajan, who works as security in one of the fl ats in the locality, says “I have been repeatedly asking
those who park their vehicles here to not do so but nobody listens and some even argue that it’s a public space and they have the right to park here.”