Chennai Citizen Connect: Remove illegal hoardings on pavements, urge Ekkattuthangal residents

CHENNAI: While Chennai is largely a city that still lacks a decent walking space, many illegal hoardings have been adding to the woes of the public.

With growing traffic in Chennai city, the public is finding it hard to have a decent pedestrian walk, but besides parking of vehicles on footpaths, people have also begun erecting illegal hoardings on pavements.

For instance, the public at Ambal Nagar in Ekkattuthangal has been particularly finding it hard to walk on the pedestrian walk as erecting illegal hoardings has become a common occurrence for some offenders. The residents are urging the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials to take action to prevent such instances in the future.

Speaking to DT Next, Pavithra, a resident of Ekkattuthangal said, "For my everyday commute to office, I take the train from the Ekkattuthangal Metro station. But, walking to the station is a task due to the lack of pedestrian walk area (pavement) in the stretch. This is not a rare instance, but a regular practice of people in the area."

As per the residents, the hoarding at the Ambal Nagar in Ekkattuthangal is located adjacent to a popular mobile showroom.

A college student, also a resident of Ekkattuthangal, pointed out that the stretch is already too populated and there is barely any traffic regulation followed.

"Such violation causes major inconvenience to people. While one hoarding is removed at a particular spot, people are quick to erect another one. There is little to no action by the government departments too," she said.

Department officials did not respond when contacted.