A 23-year-old woman
was arrested after her car rammed a motorbike, killing the rider on Cathedral
Road on Sunday. Police said G Ashwin, 19, a college student from Tambaram was
going on his motorbike towards the Marina to meet friends when the accident
took place. R Zinda, 21, a student in London visiting her family in
Nungambakkam, was at the wheel of a Hyundai Accent that rammed the bike from
behind. According to data released by the ministry of road transport and highways,
Tamil Nadu has recorded 15,642 fatalities on roads in 2015. The state is second
to only UP where 17,666 were killed in road accidents. In Tamil Nadu, Chennai had the highest number
of fatalities with 886 people losing their lives, followed by Coimbatore with 238,
and Trichy, where 156 people died in road accidents. Statistics and more – the menace, the trouble
that families of victims undergo – can never be explained in numbers or words.
Here is one more
strange ! – very sad !! - much has been written about the bovine menace in the
streets of Triplicane. Stray cattle,
sometimes aggressive have threatened and harmed people, especially old
aged. Children are afraid of walking
alone, hurriedly cross the roads in the fear of these animals. Representations in various forums have so far
not fructified.
File photo : not the one that caused
trouble ! looks fearsome though !!
In Triplicane, there
may not be rabid animals – but in small
lanes and bylanes – the cows and buffalos challenge people and their formidable
presence is feared – many have been hurt – the roads looks messy – more than
that is the mortal fear imposed by the animal chasing people carrying bags
checking on green leafs, vegetables and other eatables. In the area nearer Gangaikondan Mandapam,
nearer vegetable market – at any point of time, one can see a herd of cattle –
bringing the flow of traffic on busy roads to a standstill – there have been
vehicular accidents as also injuries caused by the charging animals ….
Children, old as also young continue to tremble with fear when passing by. Sad to look at the animals eating food from
garbage dumps and leftovers. They are left uncared for – injected and then
milked. The other day a bull on rampage
nearer NKT Girls High school made every one fear their life.
More seriously on
Sunday evening (17.7.16) – a 72-year-old
woman was killed in a freak accident in Triplicane when a cow, shooed away by a shopkeeper,
rammed her. TOI reports that Mrs S
Sudamani was returning home from the Parthasarathy Temple when the cow charged
at her. She fell down, sustaining severe head injury . Her daughter Alamelu
Manga, who accompanied her, was also injured in the incident.
On Monday , the
owner of the cow, Bhaskar, was booked under IPC section 304 (causing death due
to negligence) and arrested. Manga took her mother to Government Kasturibai
Gandhi Hospital. Doctors referred her to the Government General Hospital where
she was declared `dead on arrival'. Sudamani's son S Narasimhan said she did
not get timely medical help. “My sister took her to Government Kasturibai
Gandhi Hospital at 5.30pm. The attenders did not respond immediately , and my
mother was struggling on a stretcher till 5.50pm. Then doctors reached and
asked her to be shifted to GH.“
Meanwhile,
residents caught three cows roaming Triplicane and handed over to Blue Cross of
India. The NGO took the cattle to their shelter. The death shocked the
neighbourhood. “We conducted a meeting with cattle owners in the neighbourhood
to prevent the animals roaming on the roads,“said Triplicane resident KV
Srinivasan.
Chennai corporation
with initiative by the local counsellor Mr B Srinivasan built a cattle shed for
stray cattle, underneath the MRTS flyover near Kannagi Statue in Triplicane at
a cost of `20 lakh.This can accommodate at least 300 bovines. The enclosure put up beneath the MRTS track
has soil floors and fixed iron rings for tethering the cows and buffaloes. Corporation has made arrangement for borewells ensuring water
supply for the animals and for keeping the enclosure clean. Sadly,
this facility is used by some but some others still choose to leave their
cattle on the roads untethered, roaming around !!
It is the people to
be blamed rather than the animals .. in another move to prevent stray cattle running on to the beach road from
by-lanes causing accidents – Corporation erected rattlers [cattle grids] at
some lanes leading to the Beach road. The
metal rods make humans pass and cross the slippery surface slowly, they are narrow not to impede a wheeled vehicle .. but cattle were up to the challenge. After a couple of days of doubt, animals
measured their walk rather easily .. !!
Sad ~ an elderly
woman lost her life (some other had injuries and broken limbs) – yet cattles do
roam freely.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
19th
July 2016.
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