The Hindu : MTC buses collide, traffic hit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

MTC buses collide, traffic hit

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI JULY 10. Two drivers of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation have been admitted to the GH in the city after two buses were involved in a head-on collision on the GST Road opposite the Old Airport at Meenambakkam, early this morning. The accident also severely hit flow of traffic for more than two hours on National Highway 45 between Kathipara and Meenambakkam.

According to police sources, the accident occurred when the driver of the Express MTC bus proceeding to Guduvanchery from T. Nagar jumped the centre median when he applied the brakes to avoid colliding with a lorry ahead of it. As the road was slippery, the bus lost control and dashed against an oncoming MTC bus on its way to Broadway from Tambaram.

The front portion of the buses was severely damaged, especially the Guduvanchery-bound bus, that seemed brand new. The drivers, Vijay and Venkatesh were taken to the Chromepet GH and later referred to the Chennai GH, police said and added their condition was stable. Officials had to struggle hard to clear the buses, which were initially pushed to the road margins. Later, they were towed away by recovery vans. The accident, that occurred around 6.45 a.m. affected traffic flow on GST Road till nearly 9 a.m. Incidentally, both drivers belonged to the Tambaram depot.

Vehicles could be seen lined up one behind the other from the Cement Road bus stop on GST Road. Police officials tackling the situation conceded that they had a tough time regulating traffic towards the city.

Further, another MTC bus had to be parked on the side of the GST Road, close to the accident spot as one of its tyres had burst, adding to the confusion.

Though movement of traffic resumed at Meenambakkam the situation at the Kathipara junction was chaotic. A traffic policeman pointed out that at any given time, there were not more than half-a-dozen policemen on duty to regulate traffic flow.

Meanwhile, motorists, sensing the traffic snarl at the junction tried to take a detour through Military Road to reach Butt Road and eventually, the Mount - Poonamallee Road. However, Army personnel on duty who usually do not prevent the vehicles from using the roads in the area were overwhelmed by the increase in movement of vehicles and prevented motorists from using the roads at the check posts.

The Bazaar Road in Mathias Nagar was choked with vehicles and motorists were literally trapped unable to turn back either to the GST Road or the Butt Road.

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