Chennai, Oct 2:
With Gandhi Jayanti and the weekend resulting in consecutive holidays, a large number of people living in Chennai have started leaving for their hometowns, leading to severe traffic congestion on the GST Road, particularly in the Tambaram and Perungalathur areas. Motorists are facing considerable difficulties due to the heavy traffic.
The exodus towards the southern districts has been particularly heavy. A large number of passengers gathered at the Kilambakkam bus terminus on Thursday night, while a similar rush continued on Friday as passengers left Chennai for their native places.
The rush has also spilled onto the GST Road, with a large number of cars and two-wheelers heading towards the southern districts. Traffic congestion has been severe since the morning and continues to persist in the Perungalathur, Vandalur and Kilambakkam areas.
Two-wheeler riders are particularly affected as they are being forced to travel through the heavy traffic under the hot sun. The simultaneous movement of a large number of vehicles has further slowed traffic along the route.
Meanwhile, the long weekend has also prompted large numbers of people to visit the Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur to spend the holiday. The arrival of a large number of visitors has added to the traffic pressure in the Vandalur area.
Traffic police personnel have been deployed in the Perungalathur, Vandalur and Kilambakkam areas to regulate vehicle movement and control the congestion.
The current rush comes shortly after another major holiday-related exodus from Chennai during the school quarterly vacation, when heavy crowds were reported at Kilambakkam bus terminus, Egmore and Tambaram railway stations, with many passengers travelling to southern districts.