Residents who live near Marshall’s Road, Egmore on Rukmani Lakshmipathy also known as Salai(Marshall’s Road, Egmore) complained That with frequent protests/ fasts being permitted near Rajarathinam Stadium, their freedom of movement had been restricted. Most of the time, protesters squat on the road thereby blocking traffic, including the vehicles of residents. Besides the use of high decibel speakers by protestors disturbs the peace in the neighbourhood, residents have said.

On Saturday at 11.30 am, Bernadine Joseph, a retired English professor who stepped out from her apartment to reach a hospital for dialysis found it difficult to navigate the road in her car since a huge number of protesters were squatting on the road blocking her way. She had to navigate the stretch with the help of police personnel who regulated the crowd. 

Ms. Bernadine said, “They hold mass protests and rallies here, causing a lot of disturbance for us. Protestors use loudspeakers, shout and sometimes play music and sing. This happens even on Sundays. And now and then there are huge crowds, and they block the road. They occupy the whole road from the end of Rajaratnam stadium till the beginning. If there is a protest going on,I can’t enter although my house is just a few meters away. At other times, we are held like prisoners in our own homes because the crowd is so large, we cannot take our vehicles out. This has been been going on for several years.” 

Residents face hardships to commute on Mashall’s road, Montieth Road, Montieth Lane as they often get choked due to protests/ fasts. 

Sancta Maria, another resident, said, “If there is a big meeting, the whole road is choked and some people who are part of the protest, even use our compound as a toilet, and garbage bin. They come inside, and throw everything – food packets, water bottles. The whole place is so messy, and they make so much noise. As residents, we are  unable to bear this sort of disruptions so frequently. Every time I call 100 and inform them, and they send the police, and they ask them to reduce the volume on the speakers, but they never do. We can not even go out in a car from here. “ 

Sudha Anand, YouTuber, said children and college students are not able to study whenever a protest is on. “The use of high-decibel speakers even on Sundays causes a great deal of disturbance. Many offices located in the vicinity also face a great deal of inconvenience and noise pollution. Many of our residents are senior citizens requiring regular medical treatment. “

“They block the entire road, they put chairs right across. Forget ambulances, even cars and bikes cannot go out if they’re using the road,” said Samuel Fredrick. The residents requested the Greater Chennai City Police to change the venue of the meetings/ protests or restrict the permission given for protests. 

However, a senior police officer said there are now only three permitted places for protests, fasts or procession- near Rajarathinam Stadium, Sivananda Salai and Langs Garden in Triplicane Police district- centre of city. “Always when we give permission, it is with conditions such as to not use high decibel speakers. If there is a violation reported, we file cases. We will take into account the grievances of residents and will take suitable steps.”