Driving in Chennai is an ‘experience’ you wouldn’t forget in a hurry. In 2001, there were a little over seven lakh vehicles on Chennai’s roads. There are now over 30 lakh in the city, vying for that little space on the potholed blacktop.

Though a master plan for regulating the growth of the city and its traffic was readied several years ago, it soon got stuck with the general public alleging that they were not made a part of the planning process. Thus a second master plan was prepared, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority last year conducted extensive public hearings and the plan, in its final form, was sent to the state government for ratification.

But that was the last people heard of the plan, which had proposals on roads, bridges and flyovers in various spots across the city. Some say the delay is because the real estate lobby is closely linked to the blue print.

Inaction from the authorities in planning and regulating the growth has resulted in the present chaos on the roads even during non-peak hours. Hence, flyovers and bridges are being constructed to ease the present congestion though experts warn that unplanned works could backfire.

The multi-level car parking facilities, proposed by the Chennai Corporation at six places across the city, are yet to take off with government departments fighting against each other over the land that the project would take up.

There have been attempts at easing the pressure on city roads by both the incumbent and previous regimes, but politics got the better of them.

... contd.