Shopping at popular destinations in the city during the festival season becomes more challenging every year. The preferred shopping areas, T. Nagar, Purasawalkam and George Town, attract thousands of visitors every day during this period.
With festival shopping attracting huge crowds, traffic constables have their task cut out. Traffic is reduced to a snail's pace in most of the shopping areas accounting for major blockages in most parts of the city.
At T.Nagar, rows of autorickshaws parked outside stores and blocking vehicular movement are a regular feature. Motorists often complain that traffic police personnel do not attempt to clear the way. Pedestrians are worst affected.
Shopowners at George Town feel that though retail business is limited, the place remains crowded.
An increase in the crowds also brings with it concerns pertaining to fire safety.
With haphazard parking outside shops due to lack of parking space in store premises, and hawkers and vendors occupying all available space along pavements, orderly vehicular and pedestrian movement has become impossible along the roads in T. Nagar.
Pedestrians jostle for space on this crowded road off South Usman Road as the festival season attracts the shopaholics in the city to T Nagar's shopping district..
Residents around Usman Road say that improvement in the traffic situation and availability of space for pedestrians and parking have become a dream.
Many residents around Usman Road observe that the construction of the flyover has not contributed to decongestion. The zone has become unsafe for senior citizens too, as they hesitate to venture out on foot and prefer to hire autorickshaws, who are well known for being not too conducive in this traffic misery.
T.Nagar witnessed a whopping seven lakh visitors on some days last year. With the festival season fast approaching, the increasing crowds in the city are only lkely to swell.