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NT Bureau
Chennai, Aug 27:
 

BETTER HALF BEFORE BITTER HALF: The public is happy with the Rajiv Gandhi Road upto Tidel Park. But things are not the same beyond that.

        There are mixed reactions to the decision of the Tamilnadu government to name the Old Mahabalipuram road after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

        Some feel the move will lead to faster completion of renovation work on the road, since the road has been renamed to perpetuate the memory of Rajiv Gandhi. Others feel nothing will change except the name of the road. They say the name change was aimed at making the government's main ally - the Congress party happy.

        Most of the traffic on the road leads to Tidel Park and the IT companies beyond that upto Siruseri where several multinational companies are located.

        'We are facing enormous hardships to travel this way in the mornings and evenings. It's almost like hell,' said Vikram who works with a software company on the Rajiv Gandhi Road.

        'Since a number of IT and ITES firms are located here, thousands and thousands of professionals from all parts of the city are coming here daily for work,' he said.

        Ramesh Babu, a resident of Perungudi said, 'when the then AIADMK government announced the proposal to make this road an IT corridor by uplifting it with state of the art facilities, we all felt happy that we are going to live in a better place. But now we are feeling that why the project had been announced.

        He added, work so far has been completed only between Madhya Kailash and SRP Tools.

        Radha, a BPO staffer said, 'it is happy to see that the government is signing pacts with IT companies month after month. At the same time, it is the inevitable duty of the same government to look after the infrastructure facilities'.

        It has to be recalled that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi himself paid a visit to the road following media reports that renovation work was not being carried out properly.

        According to sources, some hiccups with the contractors is the reason. Meanwhile, it is also said that the government has not acquired the land needed to broaden the road in some places.