Langs Garden Road is a link road that runs along the Cooum river connecting the Chindaripet's stretch of Gandhi-Irwin Road (better known for having the Egmore station) and Pudupet's Adithanar Salai. (This road too has an Anglo name - please let me know, if u know it). Google maps says the road is much more longer. But this blog post is concerned about only this stretch.
Had the Cooum been the same as how it was a few decades ago, this road would have become a popular spot. The road is primarily a residential area with a few retail outlets, mostly an extension of Chennai's auto parts hub, Pudupet.
Once upon a time, I used to deliberately avoid this road, for the obvious reason, the Cooum bank. But it was the dwelling place for several landless urban poor. The road was reduced to a street as it was encroached by some people who lived here in their make-shift houses.
As a part of beautification drive these houses were demolished and after the usual protests, the people were evacuated. I hope they were given an alternative place to live.
It was after this clean-up, I started using this road regularly. In the beginning, I was surprised to see the width of this road. I should say, it is wider than some busy lanes of Chennai. (They must have been roads sometime ago.)
Then, the Chennai Corporation started developing a park along this stretch. I am eager to have a look at this park after its opened. I often think, de-silting Cooum is the need of the hour than a lavish park.
Soon after the evacuation, the road is again being encroached. This time its not the urban poor but the city's very own taxpayers (I hope they pay taxes), who own cars. More than the cars, it is usually travels vehicles and mini-lorries.
It is interesting to watch the encroachments cropping up. First, a dare-devil tries parking his vehicle on a temporary basis. If a police personnel or someone in the neighbourhood is too pushy with the parking, the road is safe.
Else, the confidence level grows and the space becomes his unwritten parking area. He soon earns more followers and the parking is so orderly. In some areas, heeding to the popularity, this parking is even endorsed by the Chennai Corporation, who appoint collectors and get money for parking.
Langs Garden Road has already become the haven for parking. This is encroachment in a different form. The government succeeded in removing the slum dwellers. Such a treatment cannot be anticipated to the vehicle owners. Or maybe this also a part of beautification drive. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Just that it does not look beautiful to me.
Langs Garden Road is not the first case in the city. It is obviously not the last case too. It is a continuous phenomenon. While patiently waiting for the Corporation to clear the encroachments sometime in the coming years, the little I can do is to not convert roads into self-proclaimed parking lots by parking my vehicle. I surely do not want to become a pioneer nor a follower too.
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