Heavy traffic chaos on Trichy-Chennai Highway as voters return after polls; thousands stranded overnight

CHENNAI: Thousands of travelers and vehicle owners endured severe hardship as massive traffic jams stretched from Sunday night and into Monday morning on the Trichy-Chennai National Highway.

The congestion occurred as a large number of people, who had traveled to their hometowns to vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, returned to Chennai in their vehicles all at once.

The single-phase polling for all 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu was held on Thursday, April 23. Residents of Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, and Tiruvallur districts, many who originally belong to southern districts, had left en masse to cast their votes in their native places.

After taking a holiday on Friday and staying on through the weekend, most of them began their return journey on Sunday afternoon to resume work on Monday.

While many had traveled to their hometowns in government and private omni buses—facing significant delays and difficulties in reaching polling booths—the majority chose to return to Chennai in rental cars, vans, and auto-rickshaws. This simultaneous return led to severe traffic snarls on the Trichy-Chennai National Highway.

The situation worsened near Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district, where flyover construction at two locations on the highway reduced vehicles to crawling inch by inch. The gridlock, which began Sunday evening, persisted through the night and continued into Monday morning.

Similar heavy congestion was reported near Singaperumal Koil, as well as at Guduvancheri, Kilambakkam, and Tambaram, causing immense suffering for commuters and drivers alike.

Authorities noted that buses from southern districts were stopping opposite the Kilambakkam bus terminus to drop passengers, who then crossed the road en masse to enter the terminus—adding to the chaos. In response, the Tamil Nadu Transport Department had ordered that buses must enter the Kilambakkam bus terminus directly to drop passengers, and not stop on the road.

Additionally, police imposed diversions for heavy vehicles returning to Chennai from southern districts via Chengalpattu on Sunday and Monday.

Heavy vehicles were directed via the Kancheepuram road through Walajabad, Kancheepuram, and Sriperumbudur to reach the Bengaluru-Chennai highway. Similarly, those coming via Singaperumal Koil were asked to take the Oragadam-Sriperumbudur road. Vehicles heading to Chennai from Puducherry, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, and surrounding areas were instructed to use the ECR and OMR roads instead of the Trichy-Chennai highway.

However, these orders were not fully implemented, leading to the night-long traffic nightmare that left tens of thousands of passengers and drivers stranded in distress.