Crowd before the curfew

TNN | Mar 24, 2020, 04.19 AM IST

Chennai: The Koymabedu bus terminus was a nightmare on Monday. No one cared about social distancing, as thousands crowded the terminus pushing and shoving to board the few buses that were plying in their bid to leave the city before the lockdown from 6 pm on Tuesday.

There are no trains and on Monday, the state cut by half the usual 3,000 buses operated along 700-odd routes within the state. Almost all the government buses were packed and many women, children and the elderly were unable to board a bus even if they were willing to stand and travel. Men jumped into buses through the windows even before incoming passengers had got off.

“We can clearly see people are risking their lives. Even if one or two were affected by coronavirus, it will easily spread to thousands. The government is solely responsible for this. There is no way they could track patients in this chaos,” said V Prasanna,who ended up taking a taxi for Rs.6,000 to his native place (Thanjavur) after waiting at the terminus for an hour.

The situation was no different at Perungulathur and Tambaram and it took almost two hours for buses to cross Chengalpet.

To clear the rush, Tamil Nadu transport minister M R Vijayabaskar announced that 100 Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses were diverted to ply to Trichy, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai and other districts.Buses from other districts were also told to report to Chennai to transport more people out from Chennai.

Besides, private omnibus operators were told to run all available buses from Chennai to other districts. Earlier, private operators told the government they were not willing to run buses till March 31. But they have now responded to the government’s request and started transporting people. Despite warnings, many operators charged exorbitant fares.

As for commuting in the city, no MTC buses, local trains, metro rail, autos or taxis will be allowed to ply after 6 pm on Tuesday. Movement of private vehicles within the city and to neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpet and Tiruvallur will be restricted to emergency trips. Checkposts would be erected to curb any movement between districts. "We will have checkposts near Meenambakkam and Kundrathur, where Chengalpet district meets Chennai and Kancheepuram districts, respectively, to prevent movement of people between districts. However, there would not be any restrictions on movement within a district," a revenue official in Chengalpet district said.

Chennai district with a radius of 426 sqkm shares borders with Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. The arterial roads in the city covers a distance of about 20 kilometres in all directions. Moulivakkam and Karambakkam form the borders of Kancheepuram district in the western suburbs. However, the restrictions may also be done based on police districts. Greater Chennai Police jurisdiction expands till Perungalathur in Chengalpet district, Kundrathur in Kancheepuram and Redhills at Tiruvallur district. "It is more practical because cops would be manning these check posts," the official added.