Traffic in the State capital was thrown out of gear due to the rallies taken out by the main Opposition party BJP on Monday.
Thousands of BJP activists started reaching the state capital since the morning from across the State. Jams were witnessed at the crossings at regular intervals as buses filled with BJP supporters advanced towards the protest venues in the city. BJP leaders and supporters marched to Rispana Bridge in small groups on foot, slowing traffic in the process.
In order to make the rally successful, BJP leaders had hired a large numbers of buses to carry the people from across the State. Buses were, however, parked in the places marked as parking zones by the administration in Race Course area.
The residents said they had faced traffic snarls that continued throughout the day. Those residing in the areas marked for the protest bore the maximum brunt of things. Moreover, the barricades installed at various places around Vidhan Sabha area by the administration for this rally made the buses hired by BJP crawl. locals residing around Vidhan Sabha area were inconvenienced as the administration had stopped their movement as well as that of their vehicles.
Police having drafted a traffic plan involving diversion of routes at various places while keeping the rallies in view failed to provide relief to the harangued commuters. Binjor (Uttar Pradesh) native Ramesh Singh who came to Dehradun for the first time reached Rispana bridge on foot. “ISBT was my destination. But I do not know how to go there. I am tired and I can no longer carry my luggage. I was unaware of the route diversion effected by the administration” he said.
He had to wait at the barricade for around two hours before he got an auto to reach ISBT.
Some women returning with their children from their schools were in difficulty too due to traffic diversion. They had to walk long distance to reach the auto/vikram stands to go back home.
Vehicles moved at a snail’s pace with public transports taking over an hour more to reach their destinations. Traffic jams began since the morning and continued till late evening. As the activists loyal to BJP started reaching Dehradun in their hordes traffic jams ensued at various crossings across the city, snarls that were found continuing long after the rallies were over.
Vehicles were found stuck up at MKP College Chowk, Dharampur, Araghar, Clock Tower, Survey Chowk, Dilaram Chowk, Doon Hospital and many other places in the city. Things turned harrowing when it was the time for the schools to close. Venting annoyance, Anita Bisht, a commuter, said it was a daily ordeal.
“Things turned extreme when the political parties take out rallies,” she added.