New Delhi, May 21 -- Durga quickened her pace as she got off the bus at Chennai's Guindy neighbourhood and walked towards the Guindy railway station to catch a suburban train to reach her office located in Thyagaraya Nagar, also called T Nagar, some six kilometres away. "I'm going to be late. My salary could be cut," Durga, an accountant in a private company, told Down To Earth (DTE).

Every morning, she leaves home at 8 am to catch a bus from her residence in Thiruvanmiyur to Guindy before she boards the suburban train. "If I leave the office by 6 pm, I typically arrive home around 9 pm. My total travel time to and from work is around four hours every day, covering a distance of 22 kilometres to and fro," she explained.

Durga is often ...