Tamil Nadu Turns Out for Kaanum Pongal as Chennai Mounts Major Safety Operation

Overview

• Beaches, parks and tourist sites saw heavy footfall statewide as families marked the festival’s final day.
• Chennai’s Marina and Besant Nagar/Elliot’s beaches, plus Neelankarai and Tiruvanmiyur stretches, drew large crowds through the day.
• Police presence scaled up across the city with monitoring setups, temporary control posts and rapid response teams, and News18 reported over 16,000 personnel at Marina in the evening.
• Traffic police rolled out diversions and adjusted public transport to manage flows to high‑density areas.
• Crowds also packed Velankanni, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris and Trichy’s Mukkombu, while Vandalur Zoo recorded 26,866 visitors on the day within 1.2 lakh over the holidays.