Chennai: The city of Chennai and its surrounding areas are bracing for heavy traffic congestion as nearly 12 lakh people are expected to return after the Pongal festival. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Department has urged commuters to start their return journeys in a staggered manner spread across three-four days.
Despite these efforts, transport officials have reported a high number of return bookings for government buses on Sunday, which is likely to create significant traffic issues on key routes.
According to Tamil Nadu transport department, between January 10 and 13, 8.73 lakh passengers traveled from Chennai in government buses while 3.75 lakh passengers used private omni buses. The return rush is expected to peak on Sunday, leading to severe congestion on major routes, particularly on Monday morning. Key affected stretches include Chengalpattu-Tambaram stretch of GST Road, Uthandi-Thiruvanmiyur section of ECR, Thiruporur-Thiruvanmiyur stretch of OMR, Poonamallee-Maduravoyal section of Bengaluru NH, Thirunindravur-Padi section of Chennai-Tirupati Highway, and Nallur-Madhavaram stretch of Kolkata NH.
To handle the post-Pongal rush, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will open toll gates at Paranur and Athur (on the Tambaram-Tindivanam NH) for unrestricted vehicular movement. Depending on the severity, 7-8 lanes out of 10 may be reversed to accommodate incoming traffic. R. Mohan, Managing Director of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), reported that a total of 15,866 buses, including 7,498 special services, were operated from Chennai to various parts of Tamil Nadu during the Pongal exodus.
For the return rush, 6,926 buses, including special services, are being operated from January 15 to 19. The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will operate additional services to facilitate passenger movement within Chennai on January 19 and 20.
On Sunday (January 19), 150 extra buses will run, on Monday (January 20) ,500 extra buses will be added to the fleet. In total, 982 buses, including 482 daily services, will operate on Monday.