Chennai: With Deepavali round the corner bustling shopping hubs including T. Nagar and Purasawalkam are receiving the attention of the Chennai city police who said they are prepared to manage the crowds and provide safety measures.
“We have already increased the number of cops by 30 to 40 in Pondy Bazaar and to around 100 in Usman road vicinity. As we move closer to D-day we will keep raising the number’, said an officer at Pondy Bazaar police station.
Police said they are prepared for bandobast and parking facilitations like every year. “Apart from the usual security measures, this year as per the orders from the commissioner and other authorities, we are installing higher quality CCTV cameras and watchtowers from where our personnel will look out for crimes through binoculars”, said another officer at the Mambalam police station.
Similar measures are being adopted to provide security for the public at Purasawalkam. Loudspeakers for awareness announcements are going to be set up at every junction warning the public of theft and requesting them to take care of their belongings.
“The timing of the shops should be extended in the night to avoid overcrowding during the evening hours. Apart from that, bursting of firecrackers in busy areas like T. Nagar should be controlled and incidents related to that should be attended to immediately,” said Kanchana Ashok, a resident of T. Nagar.
Others said regular office, school and college goers are usually affected in the morning due to the traffic picking up right from then.
“ A large number of people opt for the train as a mode of transportation to reach Chennai. With the station’s foot overbridge occupied by vendors, it gets worse for the crowd movement during busy seasons such as Deepavali,” said a member of T. Nagar residents’ welfare association.
“There are not enough parking facilities available in the area. This causes problems for people, working and residing here,” said Amrith Lal, who runs a chartered accountancy firm in Purasawalkam.
