CHENNAI: With Deepavali around the corner, thousands of Chennaiites are thronging markets flouting social distancing norms. Traders say crowding is usual during the festival season, but they did not expect people to give such scant disregard to guidelines during pandemic. “Two weeks ago, nobody visited our shops and we were worried. But, after the special bus services began, crowds have begun to throng our shops and now we are worried for different reasons,” a trader at T Nagar said. To cater to Deepavali rush, the Metropolitan Transportation Corporation had announced 50 special buses along 25 routes during the weekends.
Owing to heavy traffic, arterial roads in the city, including North Usman Road, parts of GST Road, Vallalar Nagar and Purasawalkam High Road, are often congested. Traffic cops are manning busy junctions, and police personnel have also been deployed at entrances of busy markets.