CHENNAI: More than 2 lakh people left Chennai in buses from Koyambedu and Tambaram to various places in the state from Monday evening to 2 pm on Tuesday.
After the announcement of the lockdown, people thronged to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) to catch a bus to their native places.
"State-owned transport corporations including the Metropolitan Transportation Corporation operated 2,850 buses from CMBT and 430 buses from Tambaram to clear the extra rush of passengers on Monday night," said Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar.
MTC buses which usually ply in Chennai were operated till Tiruchy, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore and Villupuram since the demand was particularly high.
As many as 1.9 lakh passengers boarded the buses from CMBT and more than 30,000 people from Tambaram.
The last batch of buses left around 2 pm on Tuesday so that the drivers can return before the lockdown begins at 6 pm. The lockdown will go on till March 31 during which the public transportation will completely come to a halt.
However, after the lockdown was announced, Koyambedu was chaotic. "Social distancing went for a toss. People were climbing upon each other and all the buses were completely crammed. It will be safe if the people who commuted through these buses stay in quarantine for a period of 14 days," said R Deepak, who took a bus from Koyambedu on Monday.
Similar scenes of chaos were witnessed on Tuesday too. "At least with what they witnessed on Monday night, the government could have brought some order on Tuesday. However, it was even more chaotic on Tuesday with more number of people thronging to the bus stands. However, the fleet operated by the transport corporation has been commendable," said another commuter, Priyanka.