CHENNAI: Traffic comes to a standstill on the Loop Road between Light House and Foreshore Estate as the beach promenade has been converted into a market by vendors.
While fish and vegetable vendors have eated into the road space, customers on wheels, who make a beeline to Marina, add to the menace by blocking the entry to the road.
The 19m-wide road has got shrunk to a few metres causing misery for motorists who use the Loop Road to reach their destinations quicker.
M Subramani, an auto rickshaw driver from Basin Bridge, said the bottleneck begins with encroachment by vendors. "The vendors selling fish occupy about 20 feet of the 60 feet wide road on either sides. Thanks to availability of fresh fish, the market attracts people from across the city... those with vehicles park them in the middle of the road," he said.
Bharati, president of South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, said that fisherfolk have been traditionally engaged in selling fish on the stretch for several years. "It was never a road meant for vehicular traffic till two day decades ago, but a traditional pathway for fishermen to access sea," he said. Moreover, traffic congestion happens only on Sunday, he added. "About 300 vendors are operating on Loop Road," he said.
Officials of the corporation refused to comment on the traffic quagmire and said the issue of Loop Road was a sub-judice matter as a case had been filed in the Madras High Court over its expansion.
While fish and vegetable vendors have eated into the road space, customers on wheels, who make a beeline to Marina, add to the menace by blocking the entry to the road.
The 19m-wide road has got shrunk to a few metres causing misery for motorists who use the Loop Road to reach their destinations quicker.
M Subramani, an auto rickshaw driver from Basin Bridge, said the bottleneck begins with encroachment by vendors. "The vendors selling fish occupy about 20 feet of the 60 feet wide road on either sides. Thanks to availability of fresh fish, the market attracts people from across the city... those with vehicles park them in the middle of the road," he said.
Bharati, president of South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, said that fisherfolk have been traditionally engaged in selling fish on the stretch for several years. "It was never a road meant for vehicular traffic till two day decades ago, but a traditional pathway for fishermen to access sea," he said. Moreover, traffic congestion happens only on Sunday, he added. "About 300 vendors are operating on Loop Road," he said.
Officials of the corporation refused to comment on the traffic quagmire and said the issue of Loop Road was a sub-judice matter as a case had been filed in the Madras High Court over its expansion.
Get the app