National News
Traffic disruption at Anna Salai, Kamaraj Salai in Chennai
A total of 1,500 traffic police personnel including officers in the ranks of Joint Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners were deployed for this purpose.
Traffic disruptions were caused along arterial roads including Anna Salai, Kamarajar Salai, and other feeder roads to Marina beach due to the march observing the first death anniversary of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday.
Chennai Traffic Police introduced diversions to facilitate flow of vehicles.
Around 1 lakh people gathered near Jayalalithaa’s memorial to observe the anniversary. Clad in black shirts and white dhotis, senior AIADMK leaders including Chief Minister Edappadi.K. Palaniswami walked to the memorial on Tuesday morning.
As the crowd increased, traffic police stopped vehicle movement near Gandhi Statue and diverted it to Anna Salai through Radhakrishnan Salai. Vehicles were also stopped near Napier Bridge and diverted to Anna Salai through Periyar Statue.
“Our main focus was on vehicles carrying cadres. We did not allow them to come inside the city. They were diverted at entry points and made to reach Kamarajar Salai directly,” said a senior police officer.
A total of 1,500 traffic police personnel including officers in the ranks of Joint Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners have been deployed for this purpose.
Meanwhile commuters claimed that traffic was slow. Some took to Twitter to express their anger. One tweet by Suresh, a commuter, read, “Chennai comes to standstill (Sic). Full traffic jam at Anna Salai, Central, Egmore…Lack of planning and no concern for common man. What is Chennai police doing?”
Another one by Ponni said, “First death anniversary of Jayalalitha. For us, it’s just a day coming with more banners and umpteen traffic on some of the busiest roads of Chennai.”
