The death of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi hit the transportation hard on Tuesday evening with officials turning back vehicles from Attibele toll plaza as part of precautionary measures even as about 160 state-run buses were cancelled.

Authorities at the Attibele Toll Plaza situated on the main link to the neighbouring state said they were taking all the precautions to ensure the safety of passengers. The official said the KSRTC buses that have entered Tamil Nadu during the day will be parked there till they get clearance from officials."We are not allowing vehicles with Karnataka registered numbers as a precautionary measure. Such vehicles are being sent back as of now. We have also placed reserve police at the plaza so that any eventuality can be handled efficiently," a personnel at the plaza said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) cancelled nearly 160 buses scheduled to ply on Tamil Nadu routes after 6.30 pm. "All the vehicles are night service schedules. We run a total of 432 buses of which only about 160 are affected. This includes about half of the 87 buses to Chennai," a senior KSRTC official said.

Hosur Road and saw high congestion of traffic as even private cars and maxicabs travelling towards Tamil Nadu were turned back. The personnel at the toll plaza said many commuters started arguing with them and gave up only after the police intervened. "Police have been deployed at the Tamil Nadu border as well. They are monitoring the traffic on both sides," he said.