Chennai: Residents of Kasthuribai Nagar are unhappy with the presence of a wine shop in the locality, which they claim, threatens the safety of women.
According to sources, the facility is located at Canal Bank Road, close to the railway station. To begin with, residents say, all the shops here including the wine outlet, are encroachments that have to go. Balaji Deenadayalan, an advocate and president of Kasthuribai Nagar Eighth Main Road Residentsā Welfare Association, said, “On any evening, at least 100 customers visit the wine shop. They gather in front of the store with two-wheelers haphazardly parked on the road side. They drink and eat here. There is a lot of noise as well. It gets bad after 7 pm.”
Another problem is the lack of street lights on the stretch. “Either the lights are too high and covered by branches or these donāt work. Under the cover of darkness, anything can happenā, he said. Residents also rued that the shops do not have any CCTV cameras installed. Because of the roadside eateries and the wine shop, there is a heap of waste on the road which is left uncleared for a long time.
“This stretch is the onlyĀ approach road to 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Kasthuribai Nagars Main Roads. The large number of customers is also due to the proximity to the railway station,” he notes, adding, “It would be good if authorities look into this issue at the earliest.”