Chennai: The staff quarters of the University of Madras located at Palavakkam on the ECR has been illegally rented out by university employees for parking of private buses. According to reliable sources, atleast 50 buses are parked in a portion of the 5-acre stretch of land. The university non-teaching staff residents’ association charges atleast Rs 20,000 per bus as parking fee for a year.
“The leaders of the association make atleast Rs 10 lakhs per annum by renting out university land right under the nose of senior university officials. When we try to question, they threaten us,” says a resident of Palavakkam on condition of anonymity.
Neelankarai police officials who tried to evict the buses and stop the illegal practice have even met stiff resistance from the university staff. “On a given day, atleast fifty buses and other vehicles are parked and the arrangement has been put to practice by the residents who collect hefty sums from the bus owners. They did not even allow an ambulance to be parked in the area,” said an official.
He added that the ambulance takes time to reach the spot, so we asked for space to allow the ambulance to be stationed here. They denied the space. Residents claim parking also paves way for illegal activities including prostitution, drunken brawls etc. “It is such a menace that we had to complain to the police,” says a resident of VGP quarters adjacent to the illegal parking lot.
When contacted, Madras university Registrar, P David Jawahar said, “The matter has been brought to our notice ten days back. We plan to build a compound wall which will stop any such activity from happening,” he said.
