Chennai to go car free on October 11

Chennai: The city’s anticipated first car free Sunday programme has been deferred by a week. It is now slated for October 11. Besides the postponement, the venue of the car free day has been shrunk to include just the Elliot’s Beach promenade, against what was proposed initially by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

The new date was decided at a meeting held last Friday involving senior corporation and traffic enforcement officials and representatives of ITDP, one of the program’s promoters along with Chennai City Connect.

As reported by DC earlier, the city traffic police reportedly has reservations about committing to a bigger venue as concerns were raised about handling a large volume of vehicular traffic piling up in one area. It is said that the event is expected to attract at least 4,000 people.

Traffic police, however, estimate around 1,500 cars and 3,000 two-wheelers to descend into Besant Nagar and, as such, enforcement officials said finding parking spots in residential pockets around the promenade for all the vehicles would be a tough task.

“Parking is going to be the major issue. If the promenade areas are to be car-free, vehicles will have to be parked in residential areas,” an enforcement officer with Shastri Nagar Traffic police told DC.

Cops said it was manageable but they have not been given clear instructions on the arrangements required. “From what we have been told, the event has been given a go ahead on the Beach road from the Annai Velankanni Shrine until the end of the road. But, no official instructions have come from the higher ups,” the officer said.

The initial proposal was to make available space in excess of more than 2.5 km, including a bus route road in Besant Nagar second avenue. However, with cops strongly disapproving the planned route, the debut car free Sunday will be conducted on just the 1 km Elliot’s Beach Promenade.

The cops are trying to chalk out a traffic diversion plan as no vehicular traffic will be allowed to enter the promenade for a few hours on Sunday morning. “It will be like a weekend evening on the promenade when the event happens,” a traffic cop noted. In Gurgaon, where the car free Sunday was held earlier this week, traffic authorities had resorted to levying hefty fines on vehicles parked on the car free day venue.

Speaking to DC, the project coordinator for ‘Namma Chennai Namakke’, which is the moniker under which car free Sundays will be promoted, Aswathy Dilip of ITDP, said that while it was disappointing not to have gotten a wider space, it was a start for the city.  “The authorities have promised us that based on the turn out and acceptance of the project, they will let us choose more areas,” she said.

Aswathy added that a draft list of activities that will be held on the day is currently being worked out. “The draft list includes space for walking, running, cycling, skating, free yoga sessions, dance fitness sessions, aerobics, space to be coached on football for children, basket ball besides a zone for fun activities for children including sack race, lemon and spoon, tug of war, snake and ladder and so on,” she said.

 Unlike in Coimbatore, where the event was held on arterial roads, because it is a beach, we may be able to utilise additional space on the sands,” she added.  Senior traffic officers wondered if there would be resistance from locals. “We would not know until the event happens, if residents will object to vehicles being parked on their streets. Then, it becomes an altogether different problem,” said Anwar Basha, traffic assistant commissioner (enforcement), Adyar range.