[Sangre]

I have to be in Vellore, CMC Hospital on this Saturday morning and return back to Bangalore on Sunday evening. I'm thinking of driving to and fro with my wife in my KA registered Figo.

Any suggestions for precautions that I should take? How's the situation now in light of bus services being resumed?

Note: I'm planning to leave Bangalore by 5AM. On Sunday I might leave from the hospital by 6 PM or later. A colleague suggested taking the Chittoor route to Vellore. Does it reduce any risk considerably?

Shatabdi train tickets are all sold out and I don't want to depend on Tatkal.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Sangre

I have to be in Vellore, CMC Hospital on this Saturday morning and return back to Bangalore on Sunday evening. I'm thinking of driving to and fro with my wife in my KA registered Figo.

Any suggestions for precautions that I should take? How's the situation now in light of bus services being resumed?

Note: I'm planning to leave Bangalore by 5AM. On Sunday I might leave from the hospital by 6 PM or later. A colleague suggested taking the Chittoor route to Vellore. Does it reduce any risk considerably?

Shatabdi train tickets are all sold out and I don't want to depend on Tatkal.

May be for the onward journey, you can go via Chittoor but for the return journey, I would suggest you to come via Hosur.
Now that vehicles are plying on both the sides of the border, there should be no issues at all. Better to leave bangalore say by 5 AM as rightly pointed out.

[sbala]

I crossed Attibele border around 1 Pm today and i will definitely say that things are back normal. I can see lot of lorry traffic towards Bangalore.

Happy Holidays guys..

[mpksuhas]

For those contemplating of changing number plate during long weekend drive.

[shankar.balan]

You see how the typical short term Jugaad causes all these ploys like fake number plates etc.
Can we really say it is the fault of the vehicle owner?
In a sense, yes, it breaks the "law". Most definitely.

However, when the "law" itself and its forces, completely fail to provide the common tax paying citizen with the most basic thing, safety and protection from the lawless, then can one really blame the said citizen(s) from resorting to such ploys?

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

For those contemplating of changing number plate during long weekend drive.

When we saw visuals of miscreants stoning / burning KA or TN vehicles, who is at the receiving end. Govt or the common man
During emergency situation wherein we are forced to take our personal vehicle to go to our destination either in KA or TN, is the govt going to guarantee our and our vehicle safety. Or should the common man sit at home till the situation diffuses on it own. Will the govt compensate the common man for this.
In such situations one has to resort to unethical tactics. When the law cannot protect the common man, he or she is forced to take the law in his/her own hands. I am not justifying the concept of fake number plates. It is wrong but what is the alternative if vehicles from both the states cannot enter each other's territory ?
Govt is answerable for all this mess. Issue is with respect to water sharing. Why should the unfortunate vehicles bear the brunt of the mob fury. Just because a vehicle is TN or KA registered it doe not imply that the corresponding owner is a tamilian or kannadiga.
There are many cases wherein a kannidaga owns a TN vehicle and vice versa. Govt should have been pro active in this case.

[Sangre]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

May be for the onward journey, you can go via Chittoor but for the return journey, I would suggest you to come via Hosur.
Now that vehicles are plying on both the sides of the border, there should be no issues at all. Better to leave bangalore say by 5 AM as rightly pointed out.

Originally Posted by sbala

I crossed Attibele border around 1 Pm today and i will definitely say that things are back normal. I can see lot of lorry traffic towards Bangalore.

Happy Holidays guys..

I could start from home only by 6 today morning due to some confusion about unconfirmed tatkal tickets. The journey was uneventful entirely.
Long queues at almost all the 5 toll booths till Vellore. Took me a little more than 4 hrs to reach CMC, Vellore after a 30 min. breakfast stop at Sai Sangeet near Ambur. Thanks suresh_ gs for giving me the confidence to take my car.
Will be starting from here tomorrow evening by 6 or 7 PM.
It felt good to see peaceful relations restored across the state borders

[sairamboko]

Hi All -hows the current situation? I am planning to go to chennai this weekend and be back on 19th. I hope its safe to take my KA registered car to Chennai.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Hi All -hows the current situation? I am planning to go to chennai this weekend and be back on 19th. I hope its safe to take my KA registered car to Chennai.

KA registered car, motorcycle, tractor, bus, truck anything is everything permitted in TN unless they're carrying illegal goods. The same holds good for TN vehicles plying Bangalore bound. Everything returned normalcy by 7-Oct

Originally Posted by sairamboko

hows the current situation?

Last night, I crossed Attibele-Hosur border before 10:30 pm in my TN-registered XUV 500 from Bangalore to Chennai. There were no police/RTO/para-military force/activists on either side of the border. The traffic volume was less. Left Bangalore JP Nagar at 9:30 pm and reached Chennai Royapettah home at 2:25 am today. It's business as usual at the border.

[sairamboko]

Will be going to chennai this Sunday. From kasavanahalli to tnagar. Should i take the normal route via hosur->Krishnagiri->Ranipet->Sriperambudur? I have used this route once and as known to others after Chennasamudram toll the roads are pretty. Any alternatives? Also I will be returning back on 19th. Will be starting by noon from tnagar. Which route should i take to escape the city quick? Of course in the end, I will be stuck in traffic jams after entering BLR.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Will be going to chennai this Sunday. From kasavanahalli to tnagar. Should i take the normal route via hosur->Krishnagiri->Ranipet->Sriperambudur? I have used this route once and as known to others after Chennasamudram toll the roads are pretty. Any alternatives? Also I will be returning back on 19th. Will be starting by noon from tnagar. Which route should i take to escape the city quick? Of course in the end, I will be stuck in traffic jams after entering BLR.

You can even take the Old Madras Road via KR Puram->Hoskote->Kolar->Chittoor->turn right after Coffee Day->Ranipet->Walajah->merge with the Krishnagiri-Chennai NH 46 ->Sriperumbudur.
Since your destination is T Nagar, I think it is better to stick to regular route via St.Thomas Mount, Kathipara, Nandanam.
On Sunday afternoon, you can take the same route from Chennai to get to the Bangalore highway and then come back via Sriperumbudur but don't take the Old Madras Road route (avoid Walajah->Ranipet->Chittoor as it can be very slow in the evenings) and instead return via Krishnagiri, Attibele.

[Mnjdnght]

A quick update from my recent Bangalore - Chennai - Bangalore trip (returned today):
Took the Hosur - Krishnagiri route both ways. No issues for KA vehicles at the border or within TN. Spotted a lot of KA vehicles on the way. Overall smooth ride except for the perennially bumpy and crowded stretch between Walajapet - Sriperumbudur - Chennai.

[Sangre]

I'd been to Vellore again over the weekend. Same routine of Saturday early morning (if you can call 6.30 AM early morning !) and Sunday night return.

Took me 4 hrs to Vellore including a 30 min breakfast break at A2B Krishnagiri around 8 AM. There was a reasonable amount of traffic at tolls. BTW, much lesser traffic than last weekend.

Took me 3 hrs during return last night with a 9.30 PM start from Vellore and without any breaks.

Happened to see two gruesome accidents last night. The first one was after Ambur about 10.30 PM. On the fast lane, there were a lot of glass pieces and debris. There were some people standing on the median flashing a torch to warn oncoming traffic and diverting them away from the fast lane. There was a person lying on the road near the median. There were no other stranded / damaged 4 wheelers on the road. So I think it must have been a pedestrian / two wheeler crossing the road who got hit. There were some policemen also standing nearby. Hope the person on the road got the required medical help on time.

Another accident was around 11.45PM - 12AM about 15 km before Hosur. It looked like an accident which had happened just some time earlier. It involved a Red colored Creta with TN registration which had its entire front end destroyed and was lying in the middle lane on its front end. No other car / truck was damaged nearby and traffic had backed up for about 100 m. So it's possible that I missed spotting any other vehicle involved. I saw a person (not the driver) being carried away from the Creta and a lot of debris on the road. Just some distance before I spotted the accident, there was an ambulance with siren and lights moving in the direction of the accident.

It just shook me and my wife to spot two accidents on the same night with possibly fatal results. I've been driving regularly on this stretch (Bangalore - Vellore) over the past two years but never witnessed anything like last night.

[sairamboko]

I came to chennai on Saturday night. Started 4:30pm , reached night around 10:30pm. The first 2 hours was tough managing traffic and also a near miss accident!! It was dark , headlights on and there was a curve. I honked just in case for pedestrians. As soon I finished the curve, I saw a lady and her kid slowly crawling!! I had to swerve hard left from the right most lane near the median and there was a polo in the middle lane. He saw what happened and slowed down which avoided an accident. I was shaken up badly that my hands and legs started shaking! I literally pissed in my pants. Stopped the car, calmed myself down ,drank some water. I had some near misses but I was in control, this incident shook me up badly!