The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Showers water down crowd of shoppers at T. Nagar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 20, 2006
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Showers water down crowd of shoppers at T. Nagar

K. Lakshmi

A relatively free flow of traffic gives a short respite

CHENNAI : T. Nagar got a short respite on Thursday morning as heavy rain played spoilsport for festival shoppers.

The roads around Panagal Park and South Usman Road, which are usually teeming with people and bumper-to-bumper traffic, saw a relatively free flow of traffic during the morning hours.

A visit to the area showed that both Pondy Bazaar and South Usman Road had reasonably less shoppers and vehicles on Thursday morning. Several shop-owners said heavy showers and a cloudy day diluted the crowd. However, people were elbowing their way in and out of a crowded Ranganathan Street, as usual.

Though the police had restricted hawkers from encroaching on the road space, several vendors were seen eating into space allotted for pedestrians, much to the difficulty of the shoppers.

Autorickshaws were parked along the barricades, which had already narrowed the road space for vehicles. A woman police personnel regulating the traffic said the shopping crowd was on the rise by noon and was expected to be more in the evening. She said autorickshaws or vehicles, which were parked on the road hindering traffic, were immediately moved out.

Girija Raghavan of Ashok Nagar said parking was a major problem for shoppers. Though appreciating the traffic regulation, she said "I have to park the car far away from the shopping area as several big shops do not have proper parking space."

R. Govindarajan, Exnora International joint general secretary, said several lanes such as Lakshmi Narayan Street and Gandhi Street near the Duraiswamy subway, which were residential areas, were used for parking, much to residents' inconvenience.

Police personnel said they were prepared for the last-minute rush of Deepavali shoppers.

A police official estimated that five lakh people visited the area each day.

About 500 police personnel were regulating the shopping crowd and vehicle movement.

Car parking was provided at places such as Burkit Road, Sarada Vidyalaya, North Usman Road etc., the police added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu