VIP convoys, showers, Diwali shoppers choke roads in Chennai

CHENNAI: Motorists had to slow to a crawl in the rain on Monday evening, in long lines on several roads, including RK Salai (above), with lines of vehicles on some stretches extending up to 1km Bursts of rain, crowds of festival shoppers and convoys passing through various localities as VicePresident M Venkaiah Naidu arrived in Chennai for a science festival combined to wreak traffic havoc in the city for the better part of Monday .
Motorists and other commuters, stuck in long jams, fumed silently while others vented on social media.
A drive from Adyar to Kot turpuram took 45 minutes instead of the normal 10; many motorists were reduced to a crawl, taking 30 minutes to cover 500m at a non-existent pace of 1kmph in places like Guindy and T Nagar.
It took at least two-and-ahalf-hours to travel from Mandaveli to Porur, said Anitha Kumari. “Traffic moved slowly and we were at not moving most of the time,“ the bank employee said. “This is the first time I have been stuck in such traffic.“
Most policemen blamed rain and Diwali shoppers for the chaos on all major roads, saying motorists parked vehicles at random, leaving little space on carriageways.
But, on social media, several citizens blamed the city police for “not planning properly“. The gist of their argument was that there was going to be a lot of VIP movement in the city , with Venkaiah Naidu's arrival and governor Banwarilal Purohit and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami attending a programmes at various venues, but police could have diverted vehicles to prevent traffic jams.
Police constables and officers tried to justify holding up traffic at many places, saying they had to free up routes for VIP convoys. Vehicles piled up along several stretches with lines of traffic, in some cases, almost 1km long.
“Rain forces motorists to drive slowly to avoid accidents,“ a police officer said.“This led to congestion on many roads.“
In many cases, policemen struggled to regulate traffic after getting fully drenched.
“Several stretches of Anna Salai were inundated minutes after the showers started and pedestrians and motorists had a hard time,“ student Dinesh K said . “It took me more than 30 minutes by bike to get to Nandanam from SIET college.“