Commuters in the city remained stuck in traffic jam for close to 10 hours as traffic was diverted to facilitate the shooting of an ad film.
The resulting congestion had a spilling effect on the vehicular movement throughout the city.
The worst affected were the school children who were stuck in the traffic in the morning as well as in the afternoon.
The shooting for a bike company began at the Ram Mandir Road at eight in the morning and continued till 4 in the afternoon.
All the roads leading to Ram Mandir were blocked with police and the bouncers of the ad company diverting traffic as they found convenient. Some commuters asked the Sub-Inspector of the police, who was in charge why no prior information was given about the traffic diversion to which he replied that the police had the right to divert traffic as and when required.
The police and the bouncers also forced all the shops in the vicinity to shut down. Even devotees were stopped from coming to the Jain Mandir and the Ram Mandir, both situated in the area.
It has also been reported that some bouncers misbehaved with the commuters, eve assaulting two bike riders.
The spokesperson of the ad company later said that the altercation ensued after the bike riders had repeatedly beaten the bouncers.
As news reached the SP, Navneet Bhasin, he asked the Traffic DSP Vivek Singh to reach the spot and remove the barricades. Speaking to the media persons, Vivek Singh said that one of the conditions in the permission for the shooting was that there won’t be any traffic jam.
He added that the situation had worsened due to the construction works that are going on at various places.
Pankaj Pandey, ASP Crime, who is also in charge of the traffic said that the traffic planning for the shooting is being done by the TI of the area.