CHENNAI: With bus service to southern districts suspended after 9 pm, irate commuters took to the streets blocking the National Highway near the Kilambakkam bus terminus late at night on Wednesday.
Following the blockade, traffic on NH was heavily hit, with vehicles piled up for up to five kilometres.
On Wednesday evening, the footfall in the Kilambakkam bus terminus was higher than usual as it was Muhurtham day on Thursday. Thousands of people, bound for southern districts like Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Thenkasi, Nagercoil, Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruchy, Pudukottai and Coimbatore, waited for a long time but couldn't find any buses till midnight.
Losing their temper, they gathered on NH outside the bus terminus and shouted slogans. They also blocked the entry and exit gates of the terminus and did not allow any buses to pass through.
Though police reasoned that usually there will be no service from 12 am till 4 am, the protestors claimed the buses stopped operating even before 10 pm. After police assured that the service would resume at 4 am, they gave up the protest, and the traffic was back under control after nearly four hours.