Traffic affected due to AIADMK rally to Raj Bhavan

CHENNAI: Motorists and vehicle users were put through a tough time as AIADMK cadres led by former chief minister, Edappadi K Palaniswamy went on a rally to Raj Bhavan on Monday morning to submit a petition to Governor RN Ravi against alleged irregularities in the ruling DMK government and the recent methanol deaths.

Traffic was affected in and around Guindy - in arterial stretches like Anna Salai, GST Road, Jawaharlal Nehru Road and interior roads for about three hours, much to the chagrin of office goers and the general public.

"The travel time from my house in Madipakkam to my office in Guindy hardly takes 20 minutes on usual days. Today, it took about an hour. Vehicles were diverted near Velachery aquatic complex and we had to take a circuitous route," said P Vimal Sankar, a banker.

Apart from the bumper to bumper traffic, what irked the two wheeler riders the most was being struck in the sapping heat. Several wondered how the opposition party was granted permission for the rally, despite knowing that public will be put through a hard time.

There was severe criticism in social media too as netizens pointed out the irony in AIADMK undertaking a protest march on the fifth year anniversary of Thoothukudi Sterlite shootings in which 15 victims died due to police shootings during then AIADMK government.