Another festive weekend, same old story; protests at Kilambakkam bus terminus

CHENNAI: The angry bus commuters protested in the Kilambakkam bus terminus on Friday night since there were not enough buses in the terminus while the people were travelling to their native on the weekend for Ganesh Chaturthi.

As Ganesh Chaturthi was on Saturday the people were travelling to their native from Chennai to celebrate the festival with their family members.

From Friday night till Saturday early morning, the Kilambakkam bus terminus was filled with thousands of people. Most of them were travelling to areas like Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Virudhachalam, Villupuram, Karaikal, and Trichy.

However, the commuters became angry since there were not enough buses to those areas and all the available buses were housefull. Though the transport department operated special buses for Ganesh Chaturthi it was not enough to manage the footfall.

The passengers were fighting to find a seat on the bus and most of them got in through the windows and the elderly people and children couldn't board the bus.

Hundreds of people gathered in the bus terminus and started to protest against the transport department for not operating more buses during the festival days.

The police who visited the spot tried to hold peace talks but the angry commuters surrounded the policemen and questioned how they could celebrate the festival with the family while there was no bus facility available.

Then the officers from the transport department visited the bus terminus and they arranged a few more buses and in those buses women, children and elderly persons were given first preference and they travelled to their native villages.

Despite these efforts, the bus station remained extremely crowded, with ongoing disputes and disruptions throughout the night.

(With Inputs from Online Desk)