They use the stretch in front of the airport as a parking lot

Each time M. Raghavan of Adyar has to board a flight at Chennai airport, he leaves home at least a couple of hours ahead of the scheduled departure time. Apart from the inevitable delay owing to Chennai Metro Rail work, what he dreads the most is the chaos caused by call taxis parked along Grand Southern Trunk Road.

K. Sivasubramanian of Anakaputhur, who works at the airport, says the road below the flyover in front of the airport is constantly encroached by call taxis. “They cause traffic snarls outside the airport during rush hour, making it difficult for others to drive,” he said. “At any given time, there are at least 10 cars that are parked along the road, blocking traffic,” he said.

Rajaraman, a call taxi driver, says they are forced to park on the roadside since they cannot afford to park inside the airport. “In the mornings, we get the most number of pickups from the airport. We sit inside the cars so that we can drive away quickly if the police find us,” he said, adding that the airport could provide a temporary parking bay for taxi drivers, which would help ease the congestion.

Traffic police said the stretch was a no-parking zone and they also conducted frequent checks to ensure that taxis were not parked there.

They fined around 10 taxi drivers a day, but they still continued to park, a senior officer said.

“Most people had started ordering radio taxis from inside the airport since they were cheaper than a prepaid taxi. Until the prepaid taxis reduce their prices, or the airport allows parking of call taxis, the problem will continue,” he added.

Drivers say they

cannot afford to park inside the airport.

Providing a temporary parking bay for them will help ease the

congestion, they add