Chennai from MRTS
offers a different perspective – an aerial sight … and as one crosses
Kotturpuram Station – before Kasturba Nagar – the train passes over Adyar river
– ‘not so distant’ Thiru Vi Ka bridge with vehicular traffic would be visible.
Suicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere,
"to kill oneself") is the act of intentionally causing one's own
death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, the cause of which can be
attributed to a mental disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder,schizophrenia,
alcoholism, or drug abuse. Stress factors such as financial difficulties or
troubles with interpersonal relationships often play a significant role.
Napier Bridge,
Adyar bridge, Hamilton bridge, Maraimalai adigal bridge, Thiru Vi Ka bridge and more….. Chennai has no great rivers but –
still there are many bridges.. and in someways they are infamous too…. not because they are old, unkempt, writhing under the flow of
traffic… In Dec 2012 at the peak of Carnatic music season tragedy befell on one
of the singers – Nithyasree.. in a sad development Mr V Mahadevan, husband of
the popular Carnatic vocalist, committed suicide by jumping into the Adyar
river from the Kotturpuram bridge- it was mid day and reportedly some people
saw the car stop, a man coming out and jumping into the river. The fact is Mr Mahadevan is not alone…….. he
only joined many others who had leapt from the Chennai bridges ending their
lives…
Earlier there were
reports that in view of drastic rise in suicides by jumping off bridges in
2013, Chennai Corporation began increasing the height of parapet walls of these
facilities. Work across the bridge in
Chintadripet was reported to be increased by 3.5 feet. Now The Hindu reports that Corporation of
Chennai proposes to raise the parapet wall of Thiru-vi-ka bridge
across the Adyar, as it had become a suicide hotspot. The corporation’s decision came after a
40-year-old man killed himself by leaping into the river from the bridge on
Tuesday night in the fourth such suicide since last year.
Corporation
officials said police requested them to raise the parapet wall of the bridge to
deter suicide attempts. “We haven’t completed work on the Kottupuram bridge as
yet. Although we have raised the wall, we are yet to set up steel barricades ,”
said a corporation official. The civic body is coordinating with suicide
prevention organisation Sneha and police to identify bridges that have become
suicide hotspots, the official said. An
official is quoted as saying that raising these walls and setting up barricades
is expensive; reportedly it cost Rs.80
lakh to raise the parapet wall of the Kotturpuram bridge and has allotted Rs.1.2 crore for the project at
Adyar, which includes setting up 1-metre-high steel grilles. The corporation
maintains 262 bridges including 65 high-level bridges, 35 foot bridges and 13
grade separators.
Corporation
officials said although experts are of the view that constructing a barrier
would curb suicide, several people had written to them to say a barricade would
block their view of the river and a wall would be ugly. Suicide is never a
solution; it does appear that mere raising of the height of the bridge – can
perhaps stop accidental falls, but never intentional suicide…………..
Thiru Vi. Ka. Bridge is the road
bridge across the Adyar River connecting Mylapore / Mandaveli / RA puram in the
north of the river to the South – Besant Nagar, Gandhi nagar,
Thiruvanmiyur. The new
bridge in 1973 was named after activist Thiru. V. Kalyanasundaram, replacing Elphinstone Bridge which currently is not in use.
Thiruvarur Viruttachala Kalyanasundaram(1883 – 1953), better known by
his Tamil initials Thiru. Vi Ka was a Tamil scholar, essayist and activist. He
is esteemed for the strong humanism of his essays, the analytical depth of his
commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid
style of his prose. Elphinstone Bridge was constructed in 1840 and named after the
then Governor of Madras Elphinstone.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
12th Feb
2015.
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