Street vendors help stranded people by advising them not to take bylanes
Representational image
Chennai: Traffic came to a standstill at several places in the city on Monday evening due to rain. Chennaiites were stuck for hours together, barely moving an inch as traffic cops tried helplessly to improve the situation. K. Ranjan, who landed in Chennai, got out of the airport only to be caught in traffic jam for over four hours. He said it took him more three hours to get from the airport to Kathipara flyover, normally a 10-minute ride. Traffic police said the main reason for the standstill was water-logging near OTA signal. “The water has taken up nearly three fourth of the road. The stretch is supposed to accommodate at least three to four cars, but only one vehicle is able to go at a time, that is why vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace,” said a traffic police officer.
Harish was on his way from Royapettah to Guindy but was stuck on T.T.K road near Park Sheraton hotel for about two hours, “Traffic is just not moving at all, street vendors are actually trying to help a lot by directing traffic and advising people not to take the bylanes as they are completely waterlogged.” An ambulance was also stuck on the same road, but according to a motorist, a traffic police official was able to make way for it as car drivers obliged and moved away.
In some areas, drivers complained that police were barely visible but in Egmore, matters got worse as drivers started to go in the opposite side. “At the flyover near Museum Theatre, motorists started to drive in the opposite direction completely going against rules. I was stuck for about two hours as the traffic took extra time to clear because of the thoughtlessness of these drivers,” said a road user.
Police on Anna Salai complained that the subway near Sathyam theatre had completely submerged preventing vehicles from moving. The roads were then made two-way to allow free flow of vehicles. Around 10 pm, water had been drained and traffic was regulated. However, with 14 cm of rain just on Monday, there was little that traffic police could do.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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