The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Monday morning snarls throw traffic out of gear

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Monday morning snarls throw traffic out of gear

City Bureau

Utter chaos at Little Mount, Halda junction

Passengers bound for airport caught in the jam
Massive pile-up of vehicles on GST Road
Waits of up to an hour at Kathipara junction
Poor roads, rain water and bus breakdowns blamed

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

Standstill: Traffic snarls were witnessed on several roads in the city and suburbs on Monday morning. A scene on the GST Road.

CHENNAI: Traffic came to a standstill on several roads in the city on Monday morning.

Motorists complained that they were stranded for over an hour from 8.30 a.m. at Kathipara junction. Vehicles moving in both directions at Guindy, Saidapet and Little Mount remained immobile. Apart from office goers, passengers who had to reach the airport too were caught in the traffic jam.

Suriname’s Ambassador in India K. Bajnath was scheduled to participate in the inauguration of a seminar, at T. Nagar, at 10-30 a.m. However, he could reach the venue only by noon as he was held up in the traffic jam at Kathipara. Not far from Kathipara, the junction of Velachery Main Road-Sardar Patel Road-Mount Road was a picture of utter chaos for nearly two hours. Vehicles, including two-wheelers, from Tambaram to Koyambedu and other areas moved at snail’s pace. The scene was equally bad on Nungambakkam High Road, Poonamallee High Road and other stretches leading to Broadway around the same time.

Commuters travelling from Manali to Tambaram by MTC buses claimed that it took almost 45 minutes to cross Kathipara junction alone in the morning. There was so little space that even two-wheelers could not move an inch forward.

Another commuter said “The construction work at Kathipara, Padi and other places cannot be the reason for such chaos. The authorities should have worked out alternatives taking the rainy season into consideration.”

A road user said that a doctor was seen pleading with a traffic policeman at 9.15 a.m. near Little Mount to help get his car out of the traffic block as he had to attend to an emergency case. The policeman could only shrug helplessly.

An advocate who had to reach Egmore court from Velachery said he left home at 9.20 a.m. but was caught in the traffic jam near the junction of S.P. Road-Anna Road, popularly called Halda junction, for about an hour. “Though the police had claimed that converting the stretch (S.P.Road-Little Mount-Halda Junction) into a one-way would improve traffic flow, that has not been the case,” he said.

After the introduction of the one-way traffic arrangement, Taluk Office Road has been turned into a high-intensity corridor as all the vehicles bound for Velachery, Adyar and Kathipara have to take the road. Consequently, pedestrians have to struggle to cross the road as traffic constables are not available all the time.

Road users complain that not adequate thought has been given to placing barricades on the Taluk Office road, particularly near the Sardar Patel statue. Many motorists are taken by surprise when they spot the presence of the barricades as they take a right turn. A barricade further down the road near the BSNL exchange also poses problem for motorists. Also, the location of the Little Mount bus stop on Mount Road results in slowing down of the traffic flow, causing the jam frequently.

Traffic police officers at various junctions in the city said that apart from the on-going construction work at Kathipara and Padi, the problem was more due to non-stop rain for over an hour in the morning.

The scene was no different on Grand Southern Trunk Road with a massive pile up of vehicles. Poor road conditions, breakdown of a couple of Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses and stagnation of rain water were the reasons attributed for the traffic snarls by the police.

Work on road over bridges and grade separators is on at Pallavaram, Tirusulam and Kathipara and the reduction in road space had resulted in slow movement of vehicles, traffic policemen in the southern suburbs said.

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