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Chennai, Oct 19 (IANS) As Diwali falls on Monday, thousands of Chennai residents began traveling home as early as October 16, one of the city’s busiest travel weekends of the year.
Mass migration was seen at bus stands, railway stations and highways as people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the festival with family and friends.
To manage the crowd, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) arranged a total of 20,378 special bus services from Chennai to various districts across the state. Apart from the regular fleet of 2,092 buses, 2,834 special buses were pressed into service daily, carrying thousands of passengers to the southern and western districts.
According to official data, 6,15,992 passengers have traveled in government buses from Chennai alone in the last three days. The transport department said 4,926 buses – including both regular and special services – carried about 2,56,152 passengers on Saturday.
Despite the additional services, congestion remained at most bus stands, including Koyambedu, Madhavaram and Tambaram, and passengers had to wait for hours to board a bus.
Crowding was equally intense at Chennai Central, Egmore and Tambaram railway stations, where all southbound trains were packed.
Southern district trains were particularly crowded, with many passengers standing throughout the journey. Railway officials said that most of the Diwali special trains were fully booked several days in advance.
Meanwhile, private vehicles increased congestion on main highways like GST Road. Long queues of cars were moving bumper-to-bumper, giving the impression of a slow-moving parade from Tambaram to Chengalpattu and beyond.
The waiting time at toll plazas at Paranur, Singaperumal Koil and Perungalathur increased to more than an hour, with heavy traffic reported till late night.
According to official estimates from the transport department, around 18 lakh people have already left Chennai to celebrate Diwali in their native cities. Of these, 9.5 lakh traveled by trains, 6.15 lakh by government buses, about two lakh by omnibuses and 1.5 lakh by private cars.
With lakhs of people leaving the city, Chennai looked almost deserted on Saturday evening – its usually bustling streets went quiet as families reunited across Tamil Nadu to celebrate the festival of lights.
–IANS
AL/DPB