Denizens returning after long weekend chokes GST Road for hours

CHENNAI: As the schools reopened after the quarterly exam holidays and the long weekend, thousands of people who had travelled to their native places returned to Chennai, leading to severe traffic congestion on the Tiruchy-Chennai National Highway.

It is said that a number of police personnel from the Tambaram region had been deployed for security arrangements related to the Madurantakam Assembly by-poll, resulting in a shortage of personnel to manage the heavy traffic in the Tambaram-Perungalathur stretch.

Meanwhile, Tambaram Railway Station witnessed a massive rush of passengers from early morning. Several express trains from southern districts arrived at Tambaram one after another. Thousands of passengers who got down from these trains boarded the Beach-bound EMU, resulting in severe overcrowding even during the early morning hours.

Long queues were also seen at the ticket counters inside Tambaram railway station, while the railway foot-overbridge witnessed heavy movement of passengers. Despite the massive crowd, there were no Railway Protection Force or railway police personnel deployed at the congested points to regulate the passenger movement.

The rush continued at the Tambaram bus stand as well, with passengers arriving from the station and those returning from their native places crowding the MTC buses. With very few city buses operating during the early morning, many passengers turned to autorickshaws and cabs to reach their destinations. This resulted in a sudden increase in auto fares, with passengers claiming that fares were being charged several times higher than usual.

The simultaneous return of holiday travellers, reopening of schools and the arrival of several express trains from southern Tamil Nadu resulted in a hectic Monday morning across Tambaram, with motorists and passengers facing significant difficulties.