CHENNAI: With the roads leading to Central Station closed for several hours on Sunday, travel plans of hundreds of rail passengers went for a toss. Though the police had announced traffic diversion on EVR Periyar Road and other arterial roads, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, vehicles piled up on narrow stretches leading to traffic snarls for a few kilometres from the Central Station.
Traffic was thrown out of gear in Periamet, Purasawalkam, Anna Salai, Mint, Broadway, Pudupet and Egmore on Sunday noon. Besides, many commuters were stranded across Chennai as Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses plying through Broadway-Central-Anna Salai, Central-Egmore and Central-Vepery sections were cancelled after 6 am.
On diverted routes too, the traffic moved at a snail’s pace. Many rail passengers said it took them additional three hours to reach the Central Station, and by then the trains had already departed. “When the Prime Minister’s function is scheduled near Central Station, the railways and the traffic police should have anticipated traffic chaos and made alternative arrangements. The Railways should have either rescheduled departure of the trains between 7 am and 1 pm or asked the traffic police to provide a dedicated route for passengers,” said R Krishnakanth, a passenger.
Several people who had booked tickets in Chennai-Bengaluru Brindavan Special, Chennai-Santragachi AC Special, Chennai-Ahmedabad Superfast Special and Chennai-Bengaluru Double Decker Special missed their trains. “There were no MTC buses since 7 am. It took me nearly three-and-a-half hours to reach Central Station from Koyambedu by auto rickshaw. I reached the station around 11.35 am, while I was supposed to arrive here by 7.30 am,” said a woman passenger.
While admitting that there could have been hiccups in traffic arrangements for the day, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), Chennai Police, Dr N Kannan said MTC buses were allowed to ply up to Central till 10.30 am and denied blocking roads towards Central for two hours. “Vehicle movement was stopped for only 30 minutes during the movement of the PM’s convoy. If the public faced hardships due to traffic personnel, it would have been unintentional and we regret the inconvenience,” he said.
When questioned why alternative travel routes to Central Station were not explored, Kannan said the Railways should have planned it and advised the passengers accordingly. When contacted, the Southern Railway spokesperson said they will look into the matter.