Koyambedu bus terminus wears deserted look

CHENNAI: The Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR bus terminus which saw huge crowds in the last three days, wore a half-deserted look, as the number of passengers took a dip. Officials from the transport department said that special buses carried over six lakh passengers from November 3.

According to officials, around 6.8 lakh passengers were transported from Chennai and officials exuded confidence that a similar number of passengers would travel by buses when they return to Chennai from November 7.

Similarly, other temporary makeshift depots like Poonamallee and Kilambakkam also witnessed a low number of passengers. “Almost all passengers have left Chennai by different modes of transportation. We also saw overflowing crowds at railway stations like Egmore and Central,” said a timekeeper at the Koyambedu bus terminus.

Even other crowded places like T.Nagar, Purasawalkam, Padi and Chromepet are now less crowded. “While people who had to travel to various destinations from Chennai completed their purchases, it is only local people, who make eleventh hour purchases,” said a shopkeeper in T. Nagar.

Crowds at railway stations too took a dip. “Unlike the last two to three days, I can see many empty compartments in some trains and the entire platforms witnessed minimum footfalls” said K Arumai Raj, a tea stall owner near Central railway station.Meanwhile, since a very few movies are to be released on Tuesday, fans were seen putting up flex boards and cut outs near some popular theatres.