Vehicles were caught in traffic snarls on many arterial roads in the city from 4 p.m. following the visit of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to Madurai for a thanksgiving function organised at a venue on Ring Road by farmers’ associations for getting the water level in Mullaperiyar reservoir raised to 142 feet.
At least a dozen ambulances got stuck in traffic snarls at different locations between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. One such vehicle, which managed to come close to a private hospital near the Mattuthavani Integrated Bus Stand from the Sivaganga Road, could not reach in time, according to traffic police.
There were serpentine queues of vehicles off Ring Road till Othakadai junction which extended up to the High Court Bench, P.C. Perungayam junction and Ramanathapuram Road junction.
State buses, private vans, buses and lorries entered the city from the southern districts from 3 p.m. Though the police had drawn traffic officers in the rank of Deputy Superintendents of Police from Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Sivaganga, Dindigul and Nagapattinam to regulate movement of vehicles, there was disorderliness at many points in the city.
Head injuryA youth, who was travelling on an open lorry, suffered a severe head injury after a fall.
Police in the vicinity managed to rush the victim to a nearest hospital by an autorickshaw as bringing an ambulance to the spot was not possible. Similarly, a vehicle carrying nearly 15 AIADMK cadres met with an accident on Tirumangalam Road. While some suffered minor injuries, others were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Schools closedThough many schools situated near Ring Road and Karupayoorani had declared a holiday, a school on the Kamarajar Salai found it difficult to send the students back home.
The traffic police swung into action and ensured that the children were safely sent home in city buses.
Public were of the view such functions should be organised at a location that would not affect traffic.
