Chennai: Residents of upscale areas barricade public roads

CHENNAI: Some upscale residential areas in the city, peopled by the high and the mighty, are barricading public roads passing through their neighbourhoods, saying that it is just a safety measure to keep anti-socials at bay.

Instead of entrusting police with the job of keeping the streets safe, local welfare associations have come up with the ‘illegal’ measure to prevent entry of outsiders.

While drop-down barricades operated by exclusive security personnel are the ‘barricades’ of choice in outlying areas such as Akkarai and Injambakkam along the ECR, areas such Kilpauk, Alwarpet and Anna Nagar seem to have shifted to standing barricades.

“We used to have a drop-down barricade but there was some confusion regarding payment of salary to the security personnel and so now we have standing barricades,” said a resident of Club Road in Kilpauk. “Youngsters come in cars playing loud music and park in our area to drink and smoke marijuana. They also race down our streets at night,” said the resident, claiming the inconvenience caused is justified.
The standing barricades along the Club Road are rusty police barricades brought from another area, which clearly indicates that the ‘illegal’ blocking of roads is known to the local police.

Police barricading a road in Alwarpet leading to Demonte Colony, which received a flourish of late-night visitors after a namesake horror flick hit the screens in 2015, is a classic example of how police acted on the behest of local residents. The road was later reopened after the Corporation intervened following an RTI petition.

Corporation officials told Express that barricading of public roads has come down since that incident and they will take action if it is brought to their notice.

“Since in most cases the barricading is done by residents welfare associations and powerful individuals, nobody complains and the issue is hidden,” said a senior Corporation official.

“Even the police can’t block a Corporation road and the barricades put up by individuals or welfare associations are illegal and must be removed,” said ‘Traffic’ Ramasamy, a social activist.

However, S Vijayakumar, secretary, Driftwood Avenue Residents Welfare Association, which has two drop-down barricades in their locality, claims the barricades have stopped late-night beach revellers in Akkarai.