CHENNAI: Truck driver Sekar prays to the Almighty before commencing his journey. The driver, hailing from Panruti in Cuddalore district, is not beginning a voyage to a far off land, but entering the dilapidated CMDA Truck Terminal Complex at Madhavaram in the city. “It’s a herculean task to drive heavy vehicles into the terminal during monsoons on the horribly out-of-shape roads. The sharp-edged rocks scattered over the surface flatten the wheels and burden us more,” he noted.In fact, Sekar’s testimony is only a small fraction of the ordeal that tens and thousands of truckers from across the country undergo when their trucks stop over at the truck terminal in the city. Acute shortage of drinking water, open drains and poor sanitation are the major civic woes that plague Tamil Nadu’s largest truck terminal.Sridhar, a driver, who shuttles between the southern states, laments that the drivers staying at the terminal are forced to defecate in the open, thanks to inadequate and poorly maintained toilets. “Not all the transport offices functioning in the terminal have toilets. So, we relieve ourselves in the vacant plot adjacent to the truck terminal,” he said.Pointing to the open drains, another driver said that people were unable to use toilets in the transport offices due to frequent blocks. “The sewage flows as open drain,” he informed.Besides, the drivers spend `20 everyday for purchasing canned water because of the absence of drinking water in the terminal. “A person staying here for five days must shell out `100 for clean water. We are spending it from our pockets, as our office will not reimburse the money,” a driver from Mumbai said.The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority developed the Truck Terminal over an area of about 45 acres, which was commissioned in 1992 with the objective of providing a modern and functionally efficient truck terminal for the city. The terminal was to prove beneficial to transport operators, lorry booking agents and the general public.The terminal can accommodate over a 1,000 lorries at any given point of time.An average of 3,000 people from various sections of the transport industry visit the facility on a daily basis.According to CMDA Truck Terminal Complex Welfare Association sources, the terminal’s poor maintenance was due to confusion over the authority responsible for its maintenance.Sources claimed that while the CMDA was responsible for providing basic amenities, including roads, to the terminal, they had been informed that the responsiblity of maintaining the terminal had been transferred to the Chennai Corporation.M Vasudevan, president, CMDA Truck Terminal Complex Welfare Association, alleged that only 50 per cent of the project in the truck terminal had been completed.“This is the main reason for the present status of the terminal. The CMDA must seek infrastructure and development funds from the government to complete the remaining work,” he sought.
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