Thanks to lack of proper connectivity from Chitteri, many residents have vacated their houses and shifted to Arakonnam, claim residents. They want improvement in train and bus connectivity and want season tickets to be provided to Chitteri Railway Station.
There are more than 10 villages around the Chitteri Railway Station, including Asamandhur, Melkandigai, Keezhkandigai, Gandhi Nagar, Vedal and Thandalam. Residents mainly depend on train to travel to and from Arakkonam.
S. Dhanapalu, a resident of Asamandhur said that he took a house on rent in Arakkonam a few years ago. "This is because there was no proper transport connectivity and my children were finding it hard to go to school. However my house and farm land is still there in Asamandhur," he said.
Many residents like him are suffering due to poor transport connectivity. "Earlier we had six services. Now we have one special service running between Jolarpet to Arakonnam. It reaches Chitteri at 8.10 a.m. and in the evening it stops around 6 p.m. when it operates back to Jolarpet," said G. Kumar, secretary, Chitteri to the Central Railway Station Passengers Association.
Due to this residents are put to hardship. "Autorickshaws charge a bomb to travel from Chitteri to Arakkonam and bus services are also erratic. So people have started leaving this village and staying for rent in Arakkonam for ease of travel," said S. Annadurai, president of the association.
He claimed that the season ticket is also not being provided to Chitteri Railway station. "I travel to Ambattur for work. Until last month I was able to get it, it suddenly stopped. The railway officials told me that there are not sufficient trains, hence the issuance of season tickets to Chitteri has been stopped. So I have to get down at Arakkonam and spend ₹200 to reach Chitteri village," said Mr. Kumar.
The Southern Railways has started train service to Kancheepuram and Tirutanni, so they should start the six services to Katpadi and Jolarpet, demand passengers.
