The traffic system in the State capital was thrown out of gear on Thursday, following a rally (Mahasangram Rally) taken out by BJP’s student affiliate Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to protest against growing corruption in the academic realm and spiraling unemployment in the State.
Despite Dehradun traffic police having drafted plan by way of putting barricades at various places and diverting traffic at crossings through which the rallies passed, the commuters faced mile-long snarls that took hours to unsnarl.
The school/college students and the office goers bore the brunt of things as hundreds of ABVP activists coming from various parts of the State, especially from Garhwal region, began swarming into the city.
The people who suffered said the students going on such rallies in view of the ensuing students’ union election at various degree colleges-DBS (PG) College, SGRR (PG) College, Dav (PG) College–are natural. “But they should think of some alternatives to spare the students and the people the suffering that they undergo whenever such rallies are staged to show strength,” said Madan Negi, resident of Dalanwala.
Traffic congestion was huge, especially during the school-going time in the morning and things were the same when the schools closed for the day around noon. Vehicles moved at a snail’s pace and public transports took over an hour more to reach their destinations. Rain also added problems to the road users. Vehicles were found stuck up at Survey Chowk, Dilaram Chowk, Doon Hospital, Darshan lal Chowk, Haridwar Road, Prince Chowk, Bindal, Clock Tower, Rispana, Balliwala, Ballupur, Saharanpur Chowk, Prince Chowk, Patelnagar Chowk, ISBT and
some other places.
long queue of vehicles were seen stuck up at various crossings in the city, especially when the rally was on and again around noon when the students were on their way back home. Many of them were seen getting drenched with no transport being in sight. The parents had to struggle hard to reach the schools on time with vehicles inching along through the stalled traffic.
The protesters assembled at Ranger’s ground before they took out the rallies. Police looked more engaged in keeping order rather than unclog the traffic snarl. Policemen acted as disinterested spectators, the annoyed people said. “The traffic police seemed to have been caught unaware with the snarl causing traffic to crawl,” one of them said.