Holidays take rush off roads

CHENNAI: Driving in the city has become a pleasant experience and the average traffic policemen, usually a harassed person, is breathing easy thanks to the June 23-27 World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore. The five-day holiday (including the weekend) announced for schools and colleges has meant lesser vehicular congestion on city roads and lesser headaches for those regulating the traffic during the day.

Considering the importance of the Coimbatore event and to draw crowds, the government declared holidays for schools and colleges and announced a special casual leave for its employees.

Taking advantage of the "vacation," many city families packed their bags and went off on short tours; others are spending their time shopping and visiting movie theatres. This has brought down the vehicle movement during peak hours, evident from the fast pace at which MTC buses are moving.

On a normal working day, a traffic policeman has his hands full managing the heavy vehicular flow during peak hours, especially due to parents rushing to drop or pick up their school-going children. During these hours, his absence from a junction means chaos. Automobiles move at a snail's pace and office-goers curse the traffic for arriving late at office.

A Chennai Corporation employee said, "Usually it takes half an hour for me to reach my office by bus. On Thursday, it took only 15 minutes. The roads were not crowded and a holiday mood was prevailing everywhere."

Among the families that went off on a vacation was that of Mathew Joseph of Adyar. "My daughter who studies in school and college-going son had holidays, so we thought of taking a break by going to Bangalore. It is not often that the entire family is free," he said before leaving.

Ajay Paul of Mylapore, a state government employee, said he availed himself of the special casual leave for a day and took the family for a movie in the afternoon and then for lunch. "We also had plans to spend the evening in the beach, but then we cancelled it," he said.

Some college students residing in hostels also left for their home towns. "I decided to spend some time with my parents and friends and left for Vellore, my home town. There is no point staying back in the hostel," said Srivatsan, a 3-year commerce student in a city college.

Some traffic personnel said there was increased traffic in T Nagar on Thursday. "There is definitely a difference in vehicle congestion during school hours. But the crowd in T Nagar and other commercial areas was high today. Probably due to the holidays," said one.