The crowd was huge on Monday as the other recreation spot, Vandalur zoo, was closed for visitors. more-in With one the key recreations spots in the city, the Vandalur zoo, closed for the public, all roads led to the Marina and Elliots beaches on Kanum Pongal day on Monday. People from suburban areas such as Gummudipoondi, Urapakkam, Minjur, Poonamallee and other districts of the State also thronged the beaches. The MGR memorial, where former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was also buried, was a big draw. A. Chandra, a woman working in Gummudipoondi, said, “Visiting shopping malls and amusement parks can be costly. So a visit to the beach with our families is more affordable.” V.M. Kasiviswanathan, co-ordinator of Citizen for Safe Road, a voluntary organisation, said, “Another reason for the huge crowd is because the annual trade fair, which is usually is held on the Island Grounds, was not held this year.” K. Subramanian from Vandalur said, “Those in the southern and western suburbs too came all the way to the beach. Some even rode to town on their bullock carts.” C. Santhakumar, a mason from Manali Pudu Nagar, said, “We bought cotton candy for children and enjoyed the ride on the merry-go-around.” Nearly 15,000 police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident at the beaches. Police said its temporary control rooms set up on Marina beach received over 153 calls to trace missing children. “All of them were traced and reunited with their parents, ” said a senior police official. Traffic snarls Police personnel had a tough time regulating the crowd. Traffic on Kamarajar Road, known as Beach Road, was affected as large number of people kept crossing the road every now and then.

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