CHENNAI: The city police are having a hard time clearing the crowd that gathers on the freshly-painted Napier Bridge to click photos, leading to traffic congestion along the stretch.Since Saturday morning, hundreds of people parked their cars and bikes along the bridge to take photos, after it was painted black and white to publicise the 44th Chess Olympiad the State is set to host.
The police said people even gathered in the middle of the road when signal near the Independence Day memorial pillar was red to get better frames. People were seen to be posing as chess pieces.Sharing different incidents, a police officer said, “A man was lying in the middle of the road while his wife was clicking pictures. When the signal turned red, two young girls started dancing for Instagram reels while another was recording it. A group of youngsters was driving slowly in the middle of the road to record a video of the bridge as vehicles were piling behind them.”
The police said new sets of families and students throng the bridge to pose and click pictures as they clear one group.A senior police officer said two patrol vehicles have been placed on either side of the bridge as they expect more people on Sunday.