Government departments began wearing a deserted look on Wednesday in view of the extended weekend.
With government declaring holidays for Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, several employees packed their bags and left the offices by Wednesday afternoon to catch early evening trains to destinations like Kanyakumari.
While some of the government employees planned to visit their native towns, several others were heading for tourist locations like Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Kodaikanal, Ooty and Yercaud for which they had to leave office early as the trains to most of the southern towns leave early in the evening.
“As these trains mostly leave the city between 5 pm and 6.30 pm, we took permission from our bosses to go home, pack our bags and rush to the station,” a government employee, who did not want to be named, said.
When a journalist approached an official of one of the government departments, he was asked to come on Monday as the official was busy packing for his hometown.
To handle the extra rush, southern railway operated two special trains connecting Chennai Central with Nagercoil and Tirunelveli on Wednesday.
The Chennai moffusil bus terminus also witnessed a large crowd of people waiting to board the packed buses for their native towns.