Illegal parking of private cabs rampant in Tirusulam

Motorists taking Grand Southern Trunk Road, Tirusulam, outside Chennai International Airport, have requested the Chennai Traffic Police (CTP) to clear private cabs that are illegally parked on the stretch.

Right from S2 Airport Police Station, a row of private cabs are parked up to Airport bus stop, occupying most of the arterial stretch, towards St. Thomas Mount.

As a result, vehicles ply on a single lane of the two-lane stretch, affecting free vehicular movement. Also, the stretch witnesses chaos when drivers halt or bring their cabs to a trotting pace.

B. Kumar, a resident of Pallavaram, says, “The traffic on the stretch comes to a grinding halt near the exit of the airport. Two cars cannot pass through the stretch, side by side. The cab drivers have encroached upon the space.” The worst-affected include pedestrians as the walkers’ path has been constructed so high that pedestrians tend to walk in the middle of the road, unmindful of the consequences.

Moreover, the surface of the walkers’ pathway is broken at several spots. The space abutting the footpaths and the carriageway is used s an open toilet.

When contacted, a Chennai Traffic Police official, said, “It is illegal to park vehicles on the stretch. Even officials of the Airports Authority of India have been advising people not to park their vehicles on the lane. Still, drivers continue to park the vehicles on the thoroughfare illegally. We will soon tow such vehicles away.”