4 min readChennaiMar 12, 2021 10:32 PM IST
First published on: Mar 12, 2021 at 09:57 PM IST
In a letter to Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, B Kannan, the secretary of T Nagar Residents Welfare Association, has said that most of the shoppers who come to the shop and other commercial establishments in T Nagar are not following any safety protocols like wearing masks or maintaining social distancing putting the residents’ lives at risk.
Highlighting the various hardships the residents faced when the pandemic was at its peak, Kannan said the residents of T Nagar, and especially those residing in the side streets of Usman Road, are sandwiched between commercial complexes. “When the Covid was at its peak, most of the streets in T Nagar, were under quarantine, causing untold miseries to the residents,” the letter read.
Speaking to Indianexpress.com, association secretary Kannan claimed the city corporation hasn’t paid heed to their requests. “The Health Secretary promised me that he will direct the corporation to take action. Even today, I enquired with the corporation, there has been no progress. In Usman Road and Ranganathan Street, hardly anyone is seen following safety norms. Hawkers, window shoppers – no one is seen wearing a mask. All the masks are under the chin only, defeating the very purpose. The concept of keeping a sanitizer has gone. Except in few big shopping complexes, most of the shops are without any sanitizer facility. There is zero social distancing as well, even traffic police officers are not following those norms. It is horrific to see,” he said.
Kannan further said that the encroachment is taking place at its highest order. “People just park their vehicles in front of our apartments. Imagine if someone infected with the disease had used that vehicle and one of the apartment residents or workers had apparently touched it by mistake, what will happen? it will eventually spread to others, especially in a close-knitted area like T Nagar where mansions, homes with single or double rooms are present in large numbers. I fear a cluster if there is no strict implementation of safety norms,” Kannan added.
The association also claimed that several development projects by the city corporation has been implemented without their concern causing them great ordeal and also alleged that several multi-storeyed buildings at the place are built violating the rules and have no safety norms. “We are the neglected citizens of so-called smart-city India,” he alleged.
The association’s letter to the health department comes in the backdrop of a mask compliance drive by the health secretary in the surrounding areas of T Nagar. Health Secretary Radhakrishnan urged people to wear masks and warned of penalty if they fail to adhere to the safety protocols issued by the government.
“All the recent cases are related to cluster. Initially, there was a college cluster, then it was a training centre cluster and we had a hotel cluster. There were over 2,000 cases before in the city, it came down to 128 cases (on February 18). In the last two-three weeks, we have identified 208 families who visited various functions and places and this resulted in an increase in the number of cases. Also, it is because of the general attitude of the public; the non-compliance of safety norms like abandoning masks, not following social distancing, etc. We have now intensified the fine system, so people realise that COVID-19 has not gone,” he had said.
Highlighting the various hardships the residents faced when the pandemic was at its peak, Kannan said the residents of T Nagar, and especially those residing in the side streets of Usman Road, are sandwiched between commercial complexes. 
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