Citizen Connect: Perungalathur residents face wrath of traffic sans pedestrian crossing

Being one of the busiest areas in the city, Perungalathur is referred to as ‘mini Koyembedu’ as the buses to the southern cities are operated from here. The locality records nearly 30,000 footfalls every day.

However, the residents of Perungalathur, who access the bus terminus, opined that it is an unplanned project by the Tamil Nadu government as the pedestrians are left to risk their life while crossing the road. Without a proper signal or separate pedestrian crossing, the people are forced to cross the road along with the vehicles. Sources said that many had suffered injuries and some had even died after meeting with accidents on the road.

According to the local residents, private and government buses do not stop at the signal often. “Mostly during the peak hours at night, we cannot imagine crossing the road. Buses do not follow traffic rules properly and they would jump the red signal often. They stop if policemen force them to,” Raja Ravi from Perungalathur said.

Residents claimed that a recently opened pedestrian subway by the railways helps them cross the tracks without risking their life. They further added that it would be much helpful if they constructed a similar facility to cross the GST Road. The residents said that the bus stop and the railway station is also not properly maintained.

When contacted, the Peerkankarani Town Panchayat EO R Suma said that the issue would be taken to the district Collector after May 23 and steps would be taken to improve the road safety.

A senior traffic policeman said that they will look into the issue and take appropriate steps.