Chennai: The worst time to face a power cut is while travelling on the GST Road, so to say. For, the place turns extremely dark during such instances.
Throughout the said stretch, there are tall lamp posts, most of which are not in a working condition.
Especially, the ones near Pallavaram and MIT bridges and Chitlapakkam.
However, most of the commuters fail to notice this, because the road is always jam packed with vehicles, and the stretch easily gets lit, thanks to the light from the array of shops on either sides.
In this juncture, commuters feel that the probabilities of accidents are higher on days when there is hardly any traffic or if there is an electricity outage.
Rajesh, a resident of Chitlapakkam, asks, “GST Road is one of the busiest roads in the city and a large part of the population travels by this route everyday. Isn’t it the responsibility of the Highways department to check if these street lights are functioning or not?”
He adds, “There are so many accidents that take place on this road, yet, the seriousness of the problem has not been realised by the concerned authorities.”
Karthikeyan, another resident of Thiruneermalai, says, “A couple of months ago, a car toppled into a pit that was dug by the Municipality for the construction of grade separators. Insufficient lighting is one of the major reasons for such mishaps. Officials should take steps to correct this problem at the earliest.”