The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Rain, festival rush add to traffic woes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 30, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Rain, festival rush add to traffic woes

K. T. Sangameswaran and Karthik Subramanian

Encroachment by hawkers and inadequate regulations by police contributed to chaos

DRIVER'S NIGHTMARE: Several parts of the metropolis faced traffic snarls in the aftermath of rain and swelling crowds of Deepavali shoppers. — Photo:M. Vedhan

K. T. Sangameswaran

and Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI: Pedestrians were the only ones who could move quickly in most parts of the city on Saturday.

Traffic was choked for more than an hour in the Purasawalkam area in the morning. The diversion of vehicles from Otteri and Pulianthope areas due to waterlogging, a rush of Deepavali shoppers after the downpour, encroachments by hawkers and inadequate regulation by policemen had a cumulative effect causing immense hardship to road users.

There was a traffic jam on the Medavakkam Tank Road, Purasawalkam High Road, Brick Kiln Road, Flowers Road and Millers Road. It was chaos at the Kellys junction and the Millers Road-Purasawalkam High Road intersection. In the middle of the traffic snarl debris brought in a three-wheeler was used to fill a pothole on Millers Road.

Three MTC buses, which broke down on Medavakkam Tank Road, Millers Road and on the Purasawalkam High Road, compounded the problems for road users.

Traffic from Medavakkam Tank Road towards Purasawalkam High Road was stopped. Vans and maxi cabs were not allowed to enter Purasawalkam High Road from the Brick Kiln Road intersection. Some order appeared only after more policemen arrived to regulate the flow of vehicles.

Traffic on Poonamallee High Road went for a toss towards evening. With the Gengu Reddy subway closed due to inundation , most vehicles moving towards Egmore had to take detours.

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