Traffic flow affected for hours in Chennai

CHENNAI: The daylong bandh called by the Opposition seeking the formation of the Cauvery Management Board brought the city to a standstill. Important roads in Guindy, Saidapet, Santhome, Royapettah, Velachery, Ekkaduthangal, Adyar and Parrys Corner were choked.Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar told reporters in the afternoon that the protest march affected the flow of traffic in the city for four hours.Bus services in the city were hit with MTC operating only half of its fleet. Eleven buses were damaged by protesters across the city. 

“A few partymen who followed Stalin, as he was being taken to a wedding hall, allegedly started pelting stones at buses parked near Vepery Police Station,” said a senior law and order police officer.At Kamarajar Salai, two buses plying towards Tiruvanmiyur and Sholinganallur were captured by protesters and passengers had to walk up to Kannagi Statue to catch another bus.

“I had to take leave today and am returning home,” said S Kumar, who works in a company in Velachery. “After much difficulty, I got a bus and that too was blocked by protesters. They could have showed the protest in a more decent way,” he said.