The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Commuting fraught with many bottlenecks and breakdowns

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Friday, Nov 28, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Commuting fraught with many bottlenecks and breakdowns

Vidya Venkat and P.Opilli

It took several hours for hundreds of people to reach their destinations

— PHOTO: R.Shivaji Rao

JAMMED: Vehicles crawl on the roads in the city on Thursday as traffic jams were the order of the day. A scene at Kathipara flyover.

CHENNAI: Though there was lesser number vehicles on the roads on Thursday with schools and colleges remaining closed, traffic moved slowly on several arterial roads such as Anna Salai, GST Road and Poonamallee High Road due to water-logging and vehicle breakdowns.

T.Moli, an IT firm employee, said while returning from office in the evening it took her more than 45 minutes to reach Raj Bhavan from Kotturpuram which would have normally taken her about 15 minutes or so. Several buses and cars had broken down and lined up by the Guindy flyover, which blocked the road and created a traffic jam, she said.

Shilpa Krishnan, who took an autorickshaw to reach her house in Mylapore, said several parts of C.P. Ramasamy Road were flooded. “Every time a bus or a big car went past the auto, waves of water entered the vehicle,” she said. Commuters also complained about how autorickshaw drivers exploited the rain situation and overcharged them.

Arrival and departure of flights at the Chennai domestic airport were affected for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Airport sources said arrival of nearly 20 flights and departure of about a dozen flights got delayed. Some flights were delayed for up to an hour during the day, said the sources. Vehicles moving to and from Aranganathan subway, Doraisamy subway and Harrington subway had a tough time as these subways got filled up with water during the day. By evening, they were completely submerged cutting off access to areas such as T.Nagar, West Mambalam, Ashok Nagar, Koyambedu, Vadapalani, Egmore and Chetpet.

A senior MTC official said bus services such as 11H, 49A, 5E and others that ply via these subways got stuck up here after 5 p.m. Many MTC bus depots were water-logged and commuters found it difficult to board buses here. The T.Nagar bus depot had 2 feet deep water and drivers found it difficult to take the buses out.

G.Kailasam, a resident living near the bus depot, said the situation was the same every year. “Each time the road is re-laid, water from roads on a higher level gushes into the depot. There is an urgent need to improve stormwater drains here,” he said. He added that after the Usman Road flyover was constructed, tiles were laid on top of the stormwater drains and no desilting work could be undertaken in them.

Despite rains abating in the evening, there was a major traffic problem from the Saidapet bridge to Kathipara due to water-logging.

Many people returning home after work were forced to inch their way through traffic. Motorists had to wait for a couple of hours before they could get out of the congested stretch. Long lines of waiting vehicles were seen on areas including Saidapet, Kathipara, Guindy and Halda junction. Sources in the Traffic Police said additional personnel had been deployed in these areas to help traffic flow.

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