During a complete lockdown and only essential services plying on the roads, people in Chennai were allegedly made to wait for 15 minutes for Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami’s convoy to pass.
During the restrictions, a medical vehicle was also stopped by the traffic police on Monday morning to let the CM’s convoy pass.
The incident happened at Chennai’s Island Ground signal.
#Chennai : Traffic stopped for CM convoy. @shalinilobo93
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In mobile footage of the scene going viral, a long jam can be seen forming due to the stoppage of traffic for the CM’s convoy. Stuck in the traffic jam is also an ambulance as well as cars and bikes.
The Chennai police, however, has denied that the road was blocked for the chief minister. A police representative said that the road was blocked to check for lockdown violations. The police also maintained that no patient was stuck in the ambulance.
The incident drew massive criticism with the DMK slamming the Tamil Nadu CM for not leaving VVIP protocol even during a lockdown.
Senior DMK leader Kanimozhi tweeted, “Congratulations CM! A few days ago, you brought entire cities out on to the road because of your lockdown within a lockdown. Now, you bring the city traffic and ambulances to a standstill. Your humility is amazing.”
Her tweet was in reference to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami’s announcement of a complete shutdown in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai for four days, disallowing grocery shops as well and fully curtailing the movement of the public.
The shutdown of urban Tamil Nadu, which began from Sunday, made people resort to panic buying by swarming markets in cities.
As people thronged the markets, Chief Minister K Palaniswami ordered an extension of time for shops selling essential commodities and vegetables by two more hours till 3 pm.
However, there was no dip in the crowds and important roads, and intersections that are usually deserted, be it in Chennai or in other cities like Coimbatore teemed with vehicles and people.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu reported 52 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s total to 1,937 patients. 47 of the 52 new cases are from the Chennai district. The city has now reported 570 Covid-19 cases. 4 new cases were reported in Madurai and one in Villupuram.
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/chennai-ambulance-essential-services-wait-as-road-blocked-for-cm-s-convoy-1671702-2020-04-27
