VILLUPURAM: For the third straight day, the Chennai-Tiruchy National Highway turned into a sea of vehicles as thousands of people headed to their hometowns in southern Tamil Nadu to celebrate Deepavali. Long tailbacks were reported across key junctions, with the heaviest congestion around the Vikravandi toll plaza.
The festive exodus began on October 17 as Chennai residents started leaving the city ahead of the long weekend. Office-goers and families took to every available mode of transport - cars, omni buses, government buses, and even two-wheelers - crowding major exit routes from the state capital. At the Vikravandi toll plaza, which has 12 lanes (six on each side), authorities opened nine lanes exclusively for southbound traffic. Later in the day, an additional lane was opened toward Chennai, creating a four-lane corridor for northbound vehicles. According to toll plaza data, 34,000 vehicles crossed the plaza on October 17; 46,500 on October 18; and another 38,700 by 5 pm on Saturday - adding up to 1,19,200 vehicles in three days.
To ease congestion, traffic police halted heavy vehicles near Chengalpattu on Friday night, allowing them to resume only after 7 am on Saturday. Barricades were placed at crossing points to prevent accidents and streamline vehicular movement. Diversions caused by ongoing flyover works added to the bottlenecks. Police rerouted heavy vehicles and omni buses via Panruti to reach Tiruchy road, while light vehicles and two-wheelers were permitted through the main route.
Villupuram district Superintendent of Police P Saravanan personally supervised operations at the Vikravandi plaza and along the highway from Friday night until early Saturday morning. DSP N Saravanan and other officers continued to monitor the flow through the day as long queues of vehicles stretched along the Vikravandi north bypass and adjoining stretches.
