Traffic chokes at GST Road as people return to Chennai after holidays

CHENNAI: Traffic choked at the GST Road on Thursday as people returned to the city after the Pongal holidays.

The people who went to their native in the southern districts with their families started to return to Chennai after the Pongal holidays on Wednesday night. As thousands of people were returning on their own vehicles and government and private buses the traffic flow was heavily affected on the Trichy-Chennai National Highway. The junctions like Singaperumal Koil, Guduvanchery, Urapakkam, Kilambakkam, Vandalur, Perungalathur and Tambaram were blocked heavily.

Raja of Tambaram said, "I reached Chengalpatttu at 11 pm on Wednesday but it took me more than three hours to reach Tambaram which is just 30 kilometres away."

The commuters said that if the police had diverted some vehicles to the Vandalur-Minjur Outer Ring Road and Singaperumal Koil-Oragadam Road the traffic might have been manageable in Tambaram and Perungalathur. They claim that even there were not enough policemen to control the traffic in the junctions at night.

The train commuters were also put to suffer since there was no proper bus facility in Tambaram. The commuters who reached the Tambaram railway station from the southern districts said that they had to wait for a long time at the Tambaram bus stop for the MTC buses. There were only very few buses in the morning to areas like Thiruvanmaiyur, Pallikaranai, Medavakkam, Pammal, Anagaputhur, Kundrathur, Avadi, and Mudichur.

Using the opportunity the auto drivers started to demand the passengers double the fare. A commuter who travelled to Madambakkam from Tambaram railway station said he was charged Rs 400 for just 5 km and from Tambaram to Pammal the auto drivers were reportedly charging Rs 600. The commuters said that the transport department should have operated more buses in the morning since many people are returning after the Pongal holidays.