Mylapore groans as festival shopping hit

CHENNAI: A large number of shoppers who thronged the North Mada Street near Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore on the first day of the Navaratri festival were put to discomfort on Tuesday owing to a public meeting organised by a political party to introduce its Mayoral candidate.Traffic was thrown out of gear on the stretch between Royapettah High Road and RK Mutt road as the crowd for the meeting, organised by the DMDK, began to build up in the evening. Traffic police officers on duty at Luz Corner, who questioned the rationale behind permitting the meeting on such a day, said that frequent halts made by vehicles bringing people to the meeting caused the traffic bottleneck.“Today being the first day of navaratri, thousands would visit this place. They should have either chosen a different spot or postponed it to Wednesday,” said Ranganathan, a government employee.Shopkeepers on the stretch said that the meeting was a dampener as it affected their sales.