Driving – A nightmare in Chennai

It took one and a half hours to cross one kilometer at around 7 in the evening on old Washermenpet road. Such is the nightmare caused by these broken roads and the construction of the metro rail for the people. The men on their bi-cycles could not move either. I switched off my engine and so did I see many doing the same. I was lucky to take my friends that day as we had some long interesting conservation. But when I looked around, I found many interesting people. A lonely man inside his luxury Skoda car was struggling to keep awake as he was in total frustration. Then I saw a family of 4 on a motorbike struggling to give place for each other but finally as usual the mother’s love was triumph full. That was a beautiful screen to watch as I saw love and contentment overtake comfort and struggle.

Then, after a while of talking with my friends I again looked through my car window and I started to observe the people on a bus. People were cramped into that bus and I found many not even finding a place to hold anywhere. For a moment I thanked my Lord for giving me this privilege of sitting in an air-conditioned car. The people sitting were not comfortable at all. Humidity and the smoke coming out from the vehicles was chocking them as many had their face covered with a cloth. Many had their earplugs connected to their handsets enjoying their favorite tunes. Some, after a good look I realized that they were busy talking with someone.

With all these things happening around me I was able to forget my frustration and slowly the traffic moved on. But sadly it was just for a few meters before it came to a standstill and I had to start over from where I left my observations.

Roads in Chennai are virtually becoming hell for drivers as most of the roads are blocked and made into one ways. To top this all, the roads are hardly seen with the way filled with only loose stones and mud. The metro rail construction has swallowed more than half the roads in most of the places. Usually our roads would be just 70 to 80 feet wide. Now with the intrusion of the metro rail construction these roads have shrunk to about 40 to 50 feet in width and with a two way traffic lane. With the increasing population and the rapid increase of vehicles (Both four and two vehicles) in spite of the hike in fuel prices, these roads have become unpleasant for driving. It would take another five years to breathe freely on these Chennai roads.