CHENNAI Monday was day one of phase 4 of the lockdown, scheduled to last till May 31, but the city's roads looked busy. In fact, it was as if normalcy was back.
There were a great many vehicles on the roads. There were even some incidents of jumping of red lights and rash driving.
The sheer volume of traffic through the day gave the impression that the lockdown had been lifted. But the fact is that Chennai continues to be a COVID-19 hotspot and there has been no further relaxation of curbs, save for 50% government staff being allowed to work.
Arterial roads like Anna Salai and Poonamallee High Road witnessed heavy traffic through the day. Shopping hubs like Purasawalkam High Road came alive with almost all shops opening and thousands thronging the roads even late in the afternoon.
The city police, however, claimed that there was only a 5% increase in traffic compared to the last few days, and that too because of government staff going to work. The police also claimed that many shops had started functioning without permission.
A police constable said that a large number of vehicles were parked near the Madras High Court despite the court not functioning. "Many vans ferrying migrant workers to the railway station were also on the road and more shops, which were shut till now, opened on Monday. All this contributed to the large number of vehicles on the road,” he said.
A traffic policeman said, “Many did not stop at signals. There were many cases of rash driving too. Many company vehicles were also on the roads to ferry workers to the factories in the suburbs.”
With the increase in volume of traffic, the police could not check vehicles as they did earlier. They mostly checked autos and vans.
A senior police officer said, “The traffic did not increase just on Monday. It increased few days ago when many shops were allowed to start functioning from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and police stopped asking for passes. Due to this, many people have started roaming around without any reason.”
A. Arun, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, said that all 400 traffic signals in the city had become functional and traffic policemen had been deployed to regulate traffic.
Personal vehicles used
Though over 200 MTC buses were operated to ferry government employees, many who used to travel by train and Metro opted for personal transport and some even carpooled.
There was no personal distancing in the buses. Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association general secretary A. Selvam said: “There were 50 passengers in each bus and many did not halt at designated stops.” . So people came by bike even from faraway places risking their lives,” said A. Selvam, general secretary of the association.
R. Kamalakannan, president, Tamil Nadu Van owners Association, said private vans had been given permission to transport only seven government or private company staff in their vehicles. “But only few started operating on Monday as drivers are yet to come back from their hometowns,” he said.