Thousand Lights: a developed neighbourhood that struggles with parking chaos, traffic snarls

The Thousand Lights Assembly segment, 1 of the astir developed areas successful the bosom of Chennai, reflects the city’s iconic past arsenic good arsenic its rapidly transforming municipality character.

The Assembly conception comprises parts of Teynampet and T. Nagar, arsenic good arsenic Mahalingapuram, Trustpuram, Choolaimedu, Nungambakkam, Poes Garden, Parthasarathypuram, and Gopalapuram, wherever radical from divers socio-economic backgrounds reside. It is besides location to respective iconic places, including Anna Flyover, Valluvar Kottam, Music Academy, Kalaignar Centenary Park, Semmozhi Poonga, St. George’s Cathedral, and Thousand Lights Mosque.

By virtuousness of its cardinal location, the Thousand Lights Assembly conception has agelong been astatine the epicentre of vibrant governmental activity. The beingness of the office of large governmental parties specified arsenic the DMK, AIADMK, BJP, CPI, and CPI(M) wrong it has made it a focal constituent implicit the decades.

The constituency besides carries a affluent governmental legacy. In the past, DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa were voters here, portion the country continues to beryllium location to respective salient personalities, including Tamil ‘superstar’ Rajinikanth. Before moving to Kolathur, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin contested six times from this Assembly constituency and won 4 times.

What residents want

Residents crossed assorted localities successful this Assembly conception person flagged postulation congestion, peculiarly during highest hours, unregulated parking, and ageing civic infrastructure arsenic large concerns. The constituency has respective aged constrictive streets and ample arterial roads specified arsenic North Usman Road, Gopathy Narayana Salai, Anna Salai, Cathedral Road, Kodambakkam High Road, and Sterling Road, flanked by densely populated residential localities and authorities offices.

V. Karthik, a nonmigratory of Gopalapuram, said the country is flanked by galore acquisition institutions and during highest hours, vehicles are parked encroaching connected roads successful residential localities. Traffic congestion remains a large occupation connected Avvai Shanmugham Salai, Conran Smith Road, and Padmavathi Road, helium said.

For K. Gunasekar, a nonmigratory of Parthasarathy Vinayagar Temple Street, down Music Academy, determination is an contiguous request to revamp the aged sewer networks. He said clogging of underground drainage and intermittent proviso of drinking h2o to astir 200 households successful his locality remains a concern. He said helium had raised the contented respective times successful country sabha meetings, but it remains unresolved.

According to G.G. Jayaraman, a subordinate of the Mahalingapuram Residents Welfare Association, velocity breakers person to beryllium installed connected Mahalingapuram Main Road adjacent the Aavin Junction, to power rash driving and to facilitate elder citizens successful crossing the road. Residents of the country besides wanted each MTC buses plying connected the roadworthy to halt astatine the Mahalingapuram autobus stop.

Further, residents besides flagged the contented of mediocre roads successful respective main roads successful Nungambakkam and Choolaimedu locality and demanded the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) enactment to beryllium expedited to trim postulation congestion. Some residents besides said their grievances were promptly resolved by officials done inter-departmental coordination erstwhile taken up with the MLA N. Ezhilan.

Development works

Dr. Ezhilan, a first-time MLA, said successful the past 5 years, 1,000 Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) tenements person been handed implicit to beneficiaries, portion flood mitigation measures were taken up successful the Mambalam and Puliyur canals.

Considering accelerated urbanisation, the decades-old sewer networks are being revamped. So far, the enactment has been completed successful 110 streets and steps are nether mode to revamp the strategy successful 100 much streets, helium said.

Using the MLA Constituency Development Fund, the Anna Flyover was revamped, and nationalist inferior spaces including Valluvar Kottam and Semmozhi Poonga person been functioning with improved amenities, too Kalaignar Centenary Park and Boxing Arena and Academy successful Gopalapuram person been established, helium said.

When asked astir his aspirations for the improvement of the Thousand Lights Assembly segment, Dr. Ezhilan said instauration of low-cost parking zones to code parking issues, operation of 1,000 much TNUHDB tenements and mounting up a 50-bedded dialysis unit, among others, are connected the cards.