CHENNAI: On Tuesday morning, vehicular movement on Anna Salai between Spencers Plaza and Saidapet came to a standstill for nearly two hours after police blocked traffic to clear the way for Chief Minister M K Stalin’s convoy.
Around 10.10am, vehicles were held up near the Anna flyover—close to 10 minutes before the CM’s arrival—leading to severe congestion during the busy rush-hour period.
Departing from the general norm of allowing the CM’s car to move alongside other traffic, officers this time imposed a full stop as he travelled through Cathedral Road en route to Tondiarpet for the launch of the Thayumanavar scheme.
The extended halt caused gridlock to spill over onto adjoining stretches of the arterial road. The gridlock stretched into the afternoon, and movement between Anna Arivalayam and Cenotaph Road became extremely slow. Vehicles from side streets entered Anna Salai without checks adding to the congestion.
T K Sathish of Teynampet, a commuter said, “I was heading to Nungambakkam and was stuck in traffic for more than 45 minutes. I tried to find traffic policemen but not many were in sight.” When contacted, the police said traffic was cleared with 30 minutes.