IAF air show: Wary of crowding, irked with poor rail service, Chennaiites climb up terraces
During the air show, the terraces of buildings within 10 km from the beach were seen filled with residents holding umbrellas, erupting in joy whenever aircraft flew at low altitude.
(L-R) Crowd watching the air show in Chennai beach railway station; Suryakiran display team with tricolour smoke breaks formation ( photo credit : Manivasagan)
CHENNAI: With Metro Rail and suburban trains towards the Marina beach running lesser services, the city residents were forced to climb up their terraces to witness the flying past of jets, helicopters, and the aerobatic team.
"For the past few days, aircraft were flying past my locality at low altitude during the rehearsals. As my toddler son is interested in aircraft, we were planning to go to the Marina. But, fear of overcrowding made us decide otherwise. We watched the aircraft from our terrace," said M Vishnupriya, a Kodambakkam resident.
During the air show, the terraces of buildings within 10 km from the beach were seen filled with residents holding umbrellas, erupting in joy whenever aircraft flew at low altitude.
"Even though we could not see the stunts, we had a glimpse of the formations from our terrace. Also, we avoided traffic snarls, crowds, sun, and other hassles," said P Sekar, another resident.
Sekar added that live-streaming of the air show on YouTube was a welcome move. "We watched the aircraft from our terrace and the stunts on YouTube. Next time, when a similar show is held in Chennai, we will try to go to the venue," he said.