'Nama Chennai'

When I first came to Chennai many years ago, I knew that I would be here for at least 21 years of my life.

Well though the topic given to me is “What I don’t like in Chennai”, I would like to quote both the positive and negative sides of this city. It would be certainly hard for me to talk just about the negative qualities. I would describe Chennai as a vibrant place, full of life and friendly people. Life is Chennai is a lot more easier and quicker than any other metropolitan city according to me. People in Chennai are said to be more hospitable and more approachable.

There always has to be a negative side to everything and everyone. There is no person or anything for that matter perfect. That is impossible and same goes for the city, Chennai. This city is said to be chaotic compared to other cities and most expats who come to Chennai find this problem annoying. Traffic congestion and the poor customer service in some restaurants, shops and over the phone are some of the common problems faced in Chennai. One more main problem in Chennai among the other metropolitan cities is its chronic water problem. This is becoming an on-going problem and is really becoming very difficult for the people living in Chennai. And this is one of the main reasons why many expats do not like to live in Chennai for a long period of time. These are the general problems faced in Chennai.

Now i would like to narrow it down to a few places which are quite popular but then are now causing problems due to certain factors. I think the area near Sathyam theatres should be maintained in a better manner. It gets too crowded at the movie hours. And there is no proper co-ordination of traffic in that area. And hence, it sometimes leads to accidents and also people miss the movie by solid 15-20 minutes. This should be taken care of. They should have more number of police standing there and co-ordinating the traffic and providing more parking lots near the theatre. The number of movie goers has been increasing by a marginal number and hence the needs of the people have to be catered according to their requirements.

Some areas of Chennai like Anna Nagar should not be used as an area of commercialism. I can only see many shops opening in these areas and less number of residential apartments. The number of people shifting to Chennai is increasing and hence we require more space of living. Another main problem is house rental in Chennai. We should try and look at the families standard of living and according tell them the rent and not blindly charge a huge amount. The house rentals in Chennai is shooting up majorly and hence becoming one of the major problems in Chennai.

Another problem is littering of the city. It is such a sad scene to see people dump waste where ever they want to. They do not realise that we are the people who constitute the city and we have to make sure that the city is kept clean. People tend to become too selfish and just take care of their needs. It becomes a real mess on the roads when people just randomly dump their wastes and do not care about the neighbouring people. We should probably start a fine system for people who dump waste on the roads and other public places and not in the dustbins provided at most parts of the city. And also the people littering the water resources is quite sad to watch or notice later. The people living near water banks just throw their wastes in the water without realising that its our priced possession and we need to save it for our future generation. Water is the most important element for man and this should be used wisely and not misused. Water should be used in minimal amounts and not as a dustbin or for people to misuse. One more annoying problem i find in Chennai is beggary. These young children keep running around in between the busy roads and keep coming to every car and beg for money. This is highly annoying. These children should be sent to schools to study rather being encouraged to beg. And the middle aged women also really annoy the people by begging, carrying a child with them. They clearly do this for no good reason. Some measures against this have to taken.

I think these are the main problems faced in Chennai and some of the negative qualities in Chennai that totally annoy me. If we as good citizens, take the necessary measures to make this place a beautiful place to live in, I’m sure Chennai will become one of the most clean and green city in India and we will attract a lot more tourists. This require absolute co-operation.