Chennai: Traffic chaos back, Covid norms flouted

CHENNAI: The city bustled with activities on Monday in a welcome sign, but it was at the cost of Covid-19 protocol.
While adherence to rules was poor in places of worship, it was better in commercial establishments and patronage was thin at malls, museums and public transport. There were traffic snarls in many places as hundreds of people hit the roads, but many on two-wheelers or those taking a stroll were found without masks. In the commercial hub of T Nagar, where retail clothing stores and jewellery shops reopened, even interior roads were jammed with vehicles slow-moving vehicles. It took at least10 minutes to cross the stretch between Saidapet bridge and Teynampet in the morning, with rain compounding the problem.

Velachery Main Road, Nanganallur Main Road and other arterial roads in the southern suburbs handled more traffic than usual. “As offices have reopened, there has been an increase in traffic,” said a police officer in Velachery.
Owners of businesses were worried because footfalls remained low, with many saying they have to sustain recurring expenses like salary and maintenance for at least a month to get back customers. Malls threw open their doors after about two months, but had very few customers. “I visited a mall to shop for my brother’s wedding. There was not much crowd. Maybe, it is because the multiplex is not allowed to operate,” said Velachery resident L Prabhu.
Of the 365 State Express Transport Corporation bus services operated from Chennai to 26 other districts, twothirds departed from Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus in Koyambedu where all were subjected to thermal screening and entry was barred for those without masks.
No thermal check was done and sanitiser was not available at Mylapore’s Kapaleeswarar Temple, while there was little social distancing at Parthasarathy Swamy Temple in Triplicane.
While the popular Marina beach was not crowded in the morning due to rains, the Government Museum at Egmore and heritage monuments in Mamallapuram also had poor patronage.