Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVI No. 03, May 16-31, 2016
Is Chennai India’s accident capital?
Jayanthi Raghunathan
Several killed in road accidents.’
‘Bus rams onto pavements killing four.’
We are so used to these headlines that we don’t even bother to go through the gory details. Beware; if stringent steps are not taken to curb this, the next victim could even be you.
Yes, last year it was Tamil Nadu that topped the country in the number of road accidents.
Chennai has gone one step ahead this year, and that too on a world wide scale. Based on the Global Report on Urban Health, released by UN-Habitat and WHO, our Metro is second on the list of 47 cities across the world to register the highest rate of road fatalities. Boasted of as the Detroit of the East, the city has a very high motor vehicle density. At 44.7 lakh vehicles at the end of March 2014, the blood pressure on the roads can only be high.
Though laws mandate wearing helmets and seat belts, it is seldom followed. Road safety takes a back seat on our roads. It is necessary for the transport officials to step in and set things right. Stringent laws like cancelling licences and stepping up road safety awareness would help.
Other Indian cities like Jaipur, Kolkata, Delhi and Bengaluru ranked 4th, 23rd, 24th and 25th respectively. The report suggests measures to reduce accidents, with interventions to reduce speed in urban areas and by making public transportation convenient. Hopefully, one day the city will become a safer place to commute.
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Tambaram rises…
Gearing up to become Chennai’s third railway terminal soon, Tambaram will also host India’s largest railway station food court. The station is to be developed to decongest Chennai Central and Egmore rail terminals. At present, more than 90 Express and Passenger trains and at least 240 suburban trains halt at the station.
As a pilot, the Railways plan to operate five southbound express trains from Tambaram. The infrastructure is being upgraded. State-of-the-art display boards, telephone booth and passenger-friendly seats are all planned. The food court will be spread over 15,000 square feet across three areas and will host at least 25 brands that will dish out Indian and continental foods. More than a lakh of people use this station regularly and upgrading it as a third terminal will help meet better the transport needs of the growing city.
– (Courtesy: Industrial Economist.)
