Corporate School Children Doomed to Exit on the Highway

-          Johnpaul, Chennai, August 13

Chennai Corporation Middle School is situated on the Poonamallee bypass near Aminjakarai. The school exit falls exactly on the Poonamallee Bypass and the students are prone to meet with accident. There no other exit except the one that leads to the road.

 

A school boy and a girl coming out of the school gate without knowing the danger

The extension of the highway has caused to the accidents of students and the pedestrians. The middle school is run by the Chennai Corporation from 1965.Ther are about 300 students studying in this school. The school’s main gate drops exactly on the Highway. There are no other exits for the students to get away. Once the school gets over, the students rush to the gate to get out, not knowing the fastest vehicles approaching on the road. They do not notice the danger of getting hit by a vehicle.

“I studied in this school in the year 1979-84 at that time there was a single road and later they transformed into a two-way.” said Shiva, Auto-driver. “There was much causality before the median was placed; the students crossing the road met with accidents.” said Mr. Sekar, a neighbour.

We are asked by the school authorities to come and collect our children once the classes get over at 3.30pm.” said Reshma, a parent. “I myself am afraid to get in and get out of the school gate. The vehicles come faster and we need to wait until the road gets clear.” said another parent.

The headmaster of the School has refused to speak about this issue. The school staff said that the children are guided to get out by the watchman which has never happened. The PET teacher said “the School has a single entrance; I have seen the kids and their parents met with small accidents while getting out of the gate.” he added that they have informed the authorities about the issue and they said the extension will be further and the school compound would soon be demolished. This would cause the school building still closer to the road and make it worse to the students.  

 This is one of the city’s busiest roads. According to the Transparent Chennai research this is one of the accident prone spot. The auto drivers said that they have been seeing a lot of accidents taking place in front of the school. The lack of dedicated space for pedestrians and serious investigation into the accidents that happens every day is the main cause. We wish the authorities take immediate action to save the life of students.