Google Maps showed heavy traffic near the mall from afternoon as people started arriving early for the film event that was to be held in the evening on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
On Saturday, thousands of motorists were put to hardship on several roads in and around Velachery for hours after people thronged a film event at a mall. A stampede-like situation arose in the mall as the surging crowds became uncontrollable. Alarmed, the city police cancelled the event, which was scheduled for the evening.
Usually on weekends, the Phoenix Mall junction would be crowded as hundreds throng the mall. On Saturday, Google Maps showed heavy traffic near the mall from afternoon as people, mostly youngsters, started arriving early for the film event that was to be held in the evening. The event was was not ticketed.
By early evening, it took more than an hour to cross the mall and reach Guindy. The locals had no idea about the unusual crowd surge, but they had to tolerate the inconvenience and move at a snail’s pace.
On Sunday, the social media was abuzz with videos of the huge traffic jam outside the mall and the uncontrollable crowd that had gathered inside the mall. The videos went viral on social media with netizens raising questions on why the city police granted permission for the event in a mall located on a narrow road.
S. Nagavel, a resident of Velachery, who works in Vadapalani, complained that for any event where ‘Hiphop Tamizha’ Aadhi was present, there would be huge crowds, and being a film release function, the police should have given permission to hold the event on an open ground. He said that it took more than an hour to reach his office in Vadapalani.
On X, many users like Rajesh pointed out that the traffic snarl on Saturday was unreal and that big events need crowd limits, public transit plans, and advance traffic advisories. Several motorists faced the same situation in all the link roads as well. The heavy rain worsened the traffic situation.
The situation was brought under control after the city traffic police forced the organisers to cancel the event and by deputing more traffic personnel at important junctions of the Velachery Main Road to regulate the vehicle movement.
A senior police officer said that since it was an indoor event, the organisers did not seek permission from the traffic police. However, after coming to know that there was a huge crowd and that the traffic situation was going out of control, additional traffic personnel were immediately deputed to regulate the traffic. Senior police officials contacted the chief guest and stopped him from coming to the event, he added.
On Sunday, the traffic police, along with patrol vehicles, cleared even the slightest of bottleneck on the Velachery Main Road at every junction.
Published – August 10, 2026 05:00 am IST
