CHENNAI: Major bus termini in the city witnessed huge crowds on Friday night, as thousands of people headed to their hometowns for the three-day Deepavali weekend. Crowds peaked between 10 pm and 11 pm as people began their journeys after their workday ended on Friday.
A total of 3.79 lakh people travelled on 8,296 buses in the last two days through TNSTC buses. MTC had arranged 9,086 special buses from November 5 to 7 for the Deepavali festival, apart from 6,573 regular buses.
At Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus in Kilambakkam, officials from the transport department said traffic congestion between 9.30 pm and 10.30 pm delayed buses by around 10-15 minutes in reaching the terminus to pick up passengers.
As two temporary bus terminals were also operated, the crowds were divided, and there were no major issues on Friday, officials said.
Some passengers, however, reported inconvenience due to staff members being unable to guide them. K Keerthana, a passenger, said, “I was travelling from Mudichur Road to Kilambakkam terminus on Friday night. Omni buses and lorries parked on the roadside led to heavy traffic congestion.”
Transport Minister A Vijay Tamilan Parthiban inspected the major bus termini on Friday and interacted with passengers to check whether they were facing any difficulties. Responding to reporters’ questions at Koyambedu Bus Terminus about complaints from passengers that buses to certain destinations were unavailable, the minister said, “So far, we have received requests for buses from Koyambedu to Hosur and Polur. We will make the necessary arrangements.”
Southern Railway officials said that on an average of 3.2 lakh to 3.5 lakh people travel from major railway stations in the city, including Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Tambaram, Chengalpattu and Chennai Beach, every day. On Saturday, too, around 3.2 lakh people travelled from Chennai to various districts, officials said.
Crowd and vehicular movement in Chennai were relatively lighter on Saturday. Traffic police officers reported heavy vehicle flow at Kelambakkam, though traffic continued to move without major congestion.
