Chennai faces heavy traffic chaos and price hikes ahead of Independence day holiday

CHENNAI: Traffic affected on the GST Road from Wednesday evening as people started to move out of the city ahead of holidays.

The GST Road in Tambaram, Perungalathur, Vandalur and Chromepet was choked. During the day there was not much traffic but later in the evening since thousands of them started to move out of the city there was heavy traffic.

Few private buses which were supposed to pick up the passengers in Kilambakkam halted in Tambaram for a few minutes which increased the traffic on the GST Road.

Most of the people who couldn't book their tickets on flights and buses hired private cabs and travelled to the southern districts.

Since all of them left the city at the same time the traffic became uncontrollable.

Though there were traffic policemen deployed in the important junctions the traffic could not be controlled.

At Chennai Airport, domestic flight fares have skyrocketed due to the last-minute rush.

Ticket prices for flights have nearly tripled compared to usual rates. Usually to Tuticorin it would cost Rs 4,300 but on Wednesday the ticket fare has increased to 10,800.

For Madurai, it was Rs 4,000 but now increased to 11,700. For Trichy, it was Rs 2,300 but has now gone up to Rs 7,100. For Coimbatore, it was Rs 3,300 but has now increased to 5,300 and for Salem usual price is Rs 2,700 but now it has increased to 8,200.

In addition, Omni bus fares have also risen sharply. Passengers traveling to Kanniyakumari from Kilambakkam now face fares up to Rs 3,000, while Tirunelveli and Coimbatore are priced at Rs 2,700 each. For those heading to Salem, the fare has risen to Rs 1,800.

(With inputs from Bureau)