Long Weekend Rush Chokes GST Road, Tambaram Railway Station
People started leaving for hometowns from Friday night
CHENNAI: With thousands of people living in Chennai leaving for their hometowns ahead of Vinayaka Chathurthi and the ensuing three-day holiday weekend, GST Road in the southern suburbs witnessed severe traffic congestion on Saturday, with vehicles crawling for several kilometres.
The rush, which began Friday night, intensified as cars, vans, autorickshaws, government buses and private omnibuses headed towards the southern districts. Tambaram, Chromepet, Pallavaram, Perungalathur, Kilambakkam and Singaperumal Koil were among the worst-affected stretches, with vehicles moving at snail’s pace.
The situation was particularly chaotic around the Kilambakkam bus terminus, where buses entering and exiting the facility took considerable time to move through the heavy traffic. Large groups of passengers were also seen crossing the GST Road to reach the terminus, further slowing down traffic.
Passengers waiting along the roadside at Tambaram, Perungalathur, Kilambakkam and Singaperumal Koil for private omnibuses added to the congestion. The large crowds spilling onto the roadside made it difficult for vehicles to move freely along the GST Road.
Traffic and law-and-order police personnel were deployed at Tambaram and other important junctions to regulate traffic. Police personnel were seen manually managing traffic and attempting to clear bottlenecks. However, motorists complained that the deployment was inadequate, considering the volume of traffic.
The rush was equally visible at Tambaram railway station, where large crowds gathered to board trains bound for the southern districts and other destinations.
The crowd was particularly heavy for unreserved trains, including services to Nagercoil and Manamadurai and Antyodaya Express. With these trains carrying large numbers of unreserved passengers, ticket counters, platforms, foot overbridges and other parts of the station were packed.
Hundreds of passengers also competed to board the limited unreserved coaches attached to other express trains heading towards southern Tamil Nadu. The rush made it difficult for women, elderly passengers and persons with disabilities to board the trains safely.
Several passengers were seen travelling by clinging to the footboard of overcrowded coaches, raising concerns over passenger safety.
Passengers complained that the additional security and crowd-management arrangements usually made during major festivals such as Deepavali and Pongal were not evident this time.
However, police sources said the authorities had not anticipated passenger movement on such a large scale for Vinayaka Chathurthi and that arrangements were being strengthened to manage the rush.