The roads around Koyambedu market were teeming with vehicles and shoppers on the eve of Vinayaka Chaturthi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN
The city’s arterial roads witnessed severe traffic congestion on Friday and Saturday because of holiday crowd, ahead of Vinayaka Chaturthi festival which is being celebrated on Monday.
G.S.T. Road, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Poonamallee High Road and East Coast Road and other important roads witnessed heavy traffic with the police having a tough time in managing the situation. With three consecutive days being holidays, thousands headed for their native places. There was overcrowding at major railway stations such as Central, Egmore and Tambaram and the bus termini including Koyambedu, Tambaram and Madhavaram.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Road on which the Koyambedu bus terminus is located was choked with vehicles, as was the G.S.T. Road near Tambaram railway station.On Sunday, the situation eased a bit.
T. Sabarish, a resident of Madipakkam, who had a train to catch from Tambaram on Saturday night, was caught in heavy traffic on Velachery Main Road and the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road.
Extra buses
The Transport department, considering the holidays, operated more than 850 special buses, in addition to the regular 1,250 buses, to various parts of the State from the city on Friday.
A senior official said special buses had been planned to be operated from various districts to the city on Monday.