<![CDATA[CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation will shift the S B Adithanar statue on Adithanar Salai in a bid to ease traffic congestion, as it gears up to redesign the Pantheon Road junction. The statue, which was opened on May 24, 1987 by the then chief minister M G Ramachandran, will be relocated a few metres to facilitate a peanut-shaped traffic island coming up at the spot. According to officials, the corporation has received consent from the Daily Thanthi founder's family members to shift the statue and are now waiting for state government's nod. At present, three roundabouts govern the traffic flow at this junction. One roundabout consists the Adithanar statue while the other two have a dysfunctional water fountain and a high mast light. With nearly 11,000 vehicles estimated to pass through the junction every hour, the place is a traffic nightmare and an unsafe zone for pedestrians. The city traffic police experimented by installing signals at the junction but as it was found to complicate the congestion problem even more, the idea was abandoned.]]>
