CHENNAI: The unrelenting rain continued to affect traffic in Chennai on Friday with several arterial roads such as Eldams Road and T T K Road in Alwarpet, Khader Nawaz Khan Road in Nungambakkam, Rajamannar Road in K K Nagar, K P Dasan Road in Teynampet, Thirumalaipillai Road, Bazullah Road and Prakasam Road in T Nagar, and Sivagami Road in Perambur, among others, recording pileups.
A flooded stretch of Anna Salai near Saidapet lead to traffic bottleneck and a stretch near Pallavaram flyover filled with rain water blocked vehicles on GST road. Vehicles plying towards Poonamallee from Porur stretched for at least two kilometers as motorists using the flyover and underpass merged along the Mount-Poonamallee Road.
“The lane towards the city was considerably free compared to the one towards Poonamallee. This was because people were moving out of the city for New Year. Several motorists kept crossing the lane that caused traffic blocks,” said A Franklin Stephen, a police constable. S Aishwarya, 25, a resident of T Nagar who works in a private bank in Spencer Plaza, said she usually takes 30 minutes to reach home, but on Friday, she took more than two hours.
The traffic situation in Chennai on Friday was relatively better than Thursday when videos of traffic blocks and vehicles piling up on the streets went viral on social media. The unprecedented rain caught not just road-users but also traffic cops off guard. Traffic policemen, who were unprepared for the deluge, abandoned their posts to take cover and unmanned signals exacerbated the chaos. Multiple traffic diversions, too, added to the trouble. Lack of warning from the meteorological department was the reason, police said.
The most affected are easily the food delivery agents in the city. F Pavan Raj, 28, a food delivery agent who left for work by 7am on Thursday said, “Whichever road I turned to, there were barricades or knee-deep water or potholes. For every delivery, I had to take several detours,” he said.
“On Thursday, most of the cops were deployed to divert traffic and reinforcement of Armed Reserve personnel from various police stations took time to arrive,” said a senior traffic wing police officer explaining the reason for the traffic holdups.
Metro Rail helps many reach home safely
Chennai: Metro Rail came to the rescue of commuters, who were stranded due to sudden downpour on Thursday. The patronage shot up to 1.83 lakh on a single day. Extension of timing till midnight helped 1,169 passengers. According to data, on Wednesday, 1.28 lakh passengers availed Chennai Metro. The rise in patronage due to downpour on Thursday went up by 65,000 passengers. A total of 37.20 lakh passengers travelled in Metro between December 1 and 30, said a Metro Rail spokesperson. Mean-while, in continuation with Metro Margazhi Edit, On the Streets of Chennai will be performing a live music session at Arignar Anna Alandur Metro Station (street level) on Saturday from 7 pm to 8 pm
Man electrocuted after electric cable falls on him
Chennai: A 56-year-old man was electrocuted when an electric cable snapped and fell on his umbrella near Madurantakam in Chengalpattu on Friday. The deceased was identified as K Sengeni, a daily wage labourer. The incident took place when Sengeni left home to go to a nearby shop. On Thursday, two women and a class 8 boy were also electrocuted