The Times of India  19.08.2010

CHENNAI: Residents of Rangan Street and Mangesh Street off the crowded South Usman Road are complaining against the lackadaiscal attitude of the Chennai Corporation and the city police for not abiding the orders of the Madras high court-appointed Hawking Committee (Implementation) related to unauthorised hawking and parking in their area.

It has been eight months, since the committee, led by Justice A Ramamurthi, directed both the government departments to prevent unauthorised parking of vehicles below the newly-built flyover on South Usman Road. "Neither the police nor the corporation bothered to prevent parking. As a result, we are put to inconvenience," said R Mohan, a resident of Rangan Street.

They alleged that many multi-storeyed textile and jewellery shops on the road have conveniently usurped the space under the flyover and turned them into a parking space for their customers, causing severe congestion. Some of the shops have even put up barricades to stake claim on the space under the flyover. They even deploy their employees under the flyover to make sure their customers get parking space.

"Like in the case of the flyover on Cenotaph Road, the space beneath the Usman Road flyover should be cordoned off so that unauthorised parking or hawking does not take place," says Asha Uppili, a resident of Mangesh Street.

With the corporation legally' not permitting parking of vehicles under the flyover, the no-parking signboards only remain a decorative piece in the area. Locals said that on several occaisons they were unable to take their family members to the hospital because of the blockage caused by the parked vehicles. And recently, a fire engine could not get in when a fire was reported in one of the houses in the neighbourhood.

Unchecked hawking on Usman Road also continues to be a nuisance, with hawkers taking up every available inch of space under the flyover that is not used for illegal parking. As per the committee's order, as many as 104 hawkers identified in the neighbouring Pinjala Subramanian Street, a vital link to Venkatakrishna Road, had to be provided space on Thanikachalam Road till the completion of the upcoming multi-storeyed hawking complex in Pondy Bazaar, but this order too remains on paper.

Corporation sources said hawkers in Pinjala Subramanian street will be removed at the earliest because the hawking complex is nearing completion. "All the 629 hawkers identified in 2006 in T Nagar will be moved to this complex. Thereafter, no unauthorised hawking or parking beneath the flyover or in the adjoining lanes will be allowed," a senior corporation official said.