Citizen Connect: Locals want parking lot at Kandasamy Murugan temple as devotees’ vehicles create traffic snarls

According to them, devotees leave their vehicles parked on the road which affects traffic. The residents have been urging the temple authorities to arrange for parking on a vacant land at a walking distance from the temple. They said that the land belongs to the temple and hence can be turned into a parking lot for devotees’ vehicles.

Adding to the parking woes, there are 11 community halls located near the temple but none of them has a parking facility. The people who come to the community halls also park their vehicles on the road and create traffic snarls. Commuters claimed that whenever there is a function in the temple or in the community halls, they face traffic congestions in the OMR as the vehicles are found parked on the road haphazardly.

The locals claimed that they have asked the traffic police to take steps to control the traffic, but the officers apparently said that only the temple authorities can resolve the situation.

K Vignesh, from Kumaran Nagar in OMR, said, “My office is in East Tambaram and whenever the Sri Kandasamy Murugan temple hosts any function, it takes me 30 extra minutes to reach home from work because if the traffic snarl,” he said.

When contacted the office bearer of the temple he said “We are taking some steps to control the traffic and talks are under way with the traffic police. The land a few metres away from the temple can be turned into a parking lot, but we need to get approval from the administration first,” he said.

Sri Kandasamy Murugan temple is one of the oldest temples in the locality. Many people visit it every day and thousands of people from different states come here during Kirthigai.

Late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa would also visit the temple frequently. According to sources, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Prabhakaran also got married in this temple.