Thousands of commuters find it tough to park their vehicles safely at the parking yard on the eastern side of the Tambaram railway station.
With Tambaram becoming a transport hub for those visiting the city from the other parts of Tamil Nadu for official and personal work, the two parking yards of the station overflow with vehicles.
After the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 was announced and the suburban train services were stopped, the parking yards remained inactive. The parking contractors and workers vacated from the yards.
However, as the Tamil Nadu government has allowed all commercial activities and all modes of public transport, there has been a huge demand for suburban train services (the cheapest public transport facility). The success of the suburban train services depends, in part, on the availability of parking space. The parking yard on the eastern side of the Tambaram station was more spacious than the one on the western side. However, thousands of commuters find it difficult to park their vehicles safely in the yard on the eastern side because of the absence of the parking contractor.
R. Selvam, a resident of Rajakilpakkam and a regular commuter, said several vehicles, especially two-wheelers, had been stolen from the parking yard in the past few months as there was no one to guard the yard. Personnel of the Railway Protection Force visited the yard occasionally, but vehicles were being stolen in bunches, he said, urging Southern Railway to appoint a contractor immediately.
A senior official of Southern Railway said the tender for appointing a contractor for the parking yard on the eastern side of the station was finalised and a contract was awarded for two years. The letter of acceptance was issued last week, and the contractor would start working by this month-end.
