On the eve of the Shrawan Shivratri, the traffic system collapsed in Haridwar city on Monday.
The highway from Singhdwar to Shankaracharya Chowk was jam packed with Kanwad pilgrims riding on bikes and tractor trolleys.
The stretch between Premnagar Ashram Chowk to Shankaracharya Chowk became a parking with Kanwadias parking their bikes anywhere and everywhere.
However the areas of BHEL and SIIDCUL were free of any chaos or traffic which was appreciated by the local residents.
Since morning on Monday flood of Kanwad pilgrims was seen coming from Har ki Paidi on the highway riding bikes with modified silencers and police trying to streamline their flow but by afternoon the whole system collapsed.
The barricades put up by the police to streamline the traffic were broken down. On every side Saffron t-shirts and Indian flags and the noise of bikes with modified silencers dominated the scenario here.
There were also instances of concerned and panicky locals stuck in the crowd being mocked at by the Kanwadias opining that they should not come out in the mad rush of the Kanwadias.
However, some of them also helped the locals to come out safely from the traffic jam. This correspondent was also helped out by one of the Kanwad pilgrims to lift the two-wheeler across the Premnagar Ashram Bridge where there was a traffic jam with no space for walking. “My two wheeler was lifted by two people and brought to the other side of the road to enable me to reach my destination,” said one of the stranded locals.
Meanwhile, many petrol pumps in the city had to put up boards informing they were out of fuel following the rush of the Kanwadias who came in lakhs on Monday.
The rates of consumable items like milk went high up to Rs 70- 80 per litre and fruits were also selling at over Rs 100 per kilogramme. Locals pointed out that the rules regarding noise pollution and motor vehicles were blatantly flouted by most Kanwadias using vehicles. While majority of the bikers had removed a portion of the silencer to create more noise, others were accompanied by sound systems playing loud music well beyond the permissible level.