CHENNAI: The rains caught many by surprise on Monday resulting in traffic snarls in most parts of the city. With the government declaring a holiday for schools and colleges post-noon, the traffic snarls only worsened.
Parents had to rush to the schools to pick up their children and as the rains became heavy in the afternoon, many of them got drenched. They said a full day holiday or allowing schools to function fully would have been better. “I dropped my children to the school though it was drizzling.
By the time the holiday was declared, it was pouring and it was difficult for anyone to reach the school. The traffic was heavy and many of the parents struggled to arrange for someone to pick up their kids. The main reason for declaring a holiday is to ensure that children don’t travel during rains as it is dangerous,” said M Anand, whose children study at a school in Habibullah Road.
Traffic piled up on the ORR from Perungalathur between 8 am to 10 am. A traffic inspector said, “The potholes were filled with water and stagnant water on the roadside made it impossible for motorists to drive through fast.” Residents of Chromepet, Perungalathur, Kelambakkam, East Tambaram and Manambakkam had a difficult time reaching the main road, said the police officer.
Padi flyover witnessed similar scenes. Meanwhile, vehicles moving towards Villivakkam struggled as the signal did not work and there was no traffic personnel to man the junction. Vehicles from all three roads kept intersecting at each trying to overtake and were caught in a zig-zag. Two ambulances were stuck for about half an hour on the flyover unable to drive through the traffic.
Commuters were held up along the OMR for about an hour as traffic was bottlenecked due to metro work and rain. Traffic was halted at Shanthi Colony in Anna Nagar as a huge tree fell on a car and it took three hours for them to be rescued and the tree cleared.