Handrails installed to keep walkers safe help shops eat up footpaths
(WorldNews India)

CHENNAI: Steel handrails meant to prevent pedestrians from straying onto the carriageway have come in handy for business establishments which encroach pavements and turn them into `private´ spaces. Every day, thousands of pedestrians risk their lives on busy stretches of Anna Salai and Jawaharlal Nehru Road where the highways department had installed handrails a month ago. A visit by TOI found that the stretches where handrails have been fixed have lost a chunk of pavement space to shops and vehicle showrooms. For instance, the 1km stretch between Nandanam Signal and CIT Nagar Third Main Road junction signal on Anna Salai has six car and two-wheeler showrooms who have cordoned off pavement...