The traffic in the State capital was thrown out of gear on Monday as people started thronging the markets for Diwali shopping. As the Diwali festival round the corner, thousands of shoppers flocked to the markets to purchase items like gold, utensils or household goods, leading to massive traffic jams across the city. This despite Dehradun police having drafted traffic plans to ease the congestion on the roads.
The commuters got stuck on the roads for hours as the traffic either stopped or crawled. Some schools remaining open added to the congestion on the roads. The roads that bore the maximum brunt were Survey Chowk, Darshan lal Chowk, Dilaram Chowk, Rajpur Road, Doon Hospital, Araghar, Rispana, Dharampur, Aaragarh, MKP College Road, Court Road, Prince Chowk, Saharanpur Chowk and Raipur Road. Traffic got to a grinding halt on many roads while at others the vehicles moved at a snail’s pace.
Kavita Bisht, a resident of Mohit Nagar, found stuck on Survey Chowk, said she was getting late for her office due to the traffic jam.
Radhika, a commuter found waiting for the congestion to clear at Clock Tower, echoed the same. “I came to Paltan Bazaar from Raipur for Diwali shopping. I have now got stuck here. I do not know when I would reach home,” she grumbled.
Aman Semwal, a resident of Rajpur Road, said he had faced the traffic snarl at Dilaram Chowk. “I went to Dalanwala to pick up my daughter from the school and got stuck in the jam. The serious thing is that traffic crawl is becoming a daily feature of the city life. Some steps should be taken to free the commuters from the recurring problems,” he said.