Chennai: The long Deepavali weekend is here and people have made extensive plans to make use of the holidays.
Many of them are set to travel to their natives to enjoy the festival season with their loved ones and there are others who will be heading to tourism destinations to take a break from their routine.
“After a long time I will be heading to my hometown Nagercoil and the five-day holiday for my kids has made it easy for me to plan the long trip. I hope to have a wonderful time in my locality and spend some quality time with my family,” said Jenison, a techie.
For its part, the government has made several arrangements to make sure that travelling is made easier.
As many as 20,567 special buses will be operated during this period in which 11,367 will ply from Chennai from today till 5 November. Around 7,000 people have reserved tickets till now. Bookings for reservations started two days ago.
In the return routes, buses will be operated from different districts on 7,8 and 9 November. The specials will be operated from Koyambedu, K K Nagar, Poonamallee, Madhavaram and Tambaram. This is to ensure that there is no traffic jam in one particular area of the city due to the movement of long-distance buses.
TRAFFIC ROUTES
The departure points of bus services from the six termini have been changed and their routes slightly modified.
An official release from Chennai City Traffic Police said one major change that is made in the existing route is that buses starting from Koyambedu will not pass through Tambaram and Perungalathur and will take route via MaduravoyalPoonamalleeNazarethpet-Outer Ring Road and reach Vandalur. Passengers who have reserved their tickets may board the buses at the temporary bus stands at Urapakkam or Kelambakkam instead of Tambaram and Perungulathur.
MTC CHIPS IN AS WELL
The MTC has announced that 250 additional feeder buses apart from the existing ones will be operated to these six major termini to make sure people travel hassle free inside the city.
A MTC press release said, 26 buses will be operated at Madhavaram Bus stand, 32 at K K Nagar, 80 at Tambaram Sanatorium and Tambaram Railway Station bus stands, 65 from Poonamallee bus stand and 45 from Koyambedu bus stand.
TRAINS TO THE RESCUE
Southern Railway General Manager, R K Kulshrestha announced that eight special unreserved trains will be running from 3 November to tackle the Deepavali rush.
The Tambaram-Tirunelveli unreserved special train will leave from Tambaram at 9.30 am on 3 and 5 November to reach Tirunelveli at 9.30 pm on the same day. In the return direction, the train will leave Tirunelveli at 9.30 am on 4 and 7 November to reach Tambaram at 10.15 pm.
The Tambaram-Coimbatore unreserved special train will leave Tambaram at 7.45 am on 3 and 5 November to reach Coimbatore at 2 pm. In the return direction, the train will leave Coimbatore at 10 am on 4 and 7 November to reach Tambaram at 8.30 pm.
COPS ON TOES
The police and the fire and rescue services departments too have made special arrangements. Police personnel will be on rounds at important destinations and will monitor crowd and vehicle movement. Fire services have formed special teams to address any mishap during the festival of lights.
MINISTER TO STAY IN BUS STAND
Transport Minister M R Vijayabaskar today said he will celebrate Deepavali at Koyambedu bus terminus as he will be present in the location for three days to monitor the transport services.