As the Winter Session of Vidhan Sabha began on Monday, security in the State capital was stepped up inside and outside the Assembly premises.
However, commuters were inconvenienced due to traffic congestion on several roads as the district police had installed barricades at important places, including Haridwar Road (Rispana Bridge) to avoid untoward incidents as well as to prevent protesters advancing towards the Vidhan Sabha.
Additional forces were deployed inside and outside the Vidhan Sabha.
Only those with valid passes were allowed to enter. To keep order, police had installed barricades at many places in the city. A total of three additional SPs, seven deputy SPs, two dozens of inspectors and police station in-charge, 38 sub- inspectors, seven head constables, 170 constables, 50 lady constables, 18 platoons of PAC jawans were deployed inside and outside the Vidhan Sabha to strengthen security, said SP City Ajay Singh.
Meanwhile, the district police had deployed police forces at various crossings to smoothen traffic to spare the commuters inconveniences in the State capital.
In spite of this, at several crossings at noon, commuters faced inconvenience on several roads. The students who came out from the schools after the school hour ended bore the brunt of things as Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Airy) took out rallies that snaked through several crossing before they reached the police barricade at Rispana Bridge.
Many students were found walking a few kilometers due to traffic diversion especially around Dharampur area, Rispana area and other places in the city.
A senior police officer said that a traffic plan was executed in view of the session in the state capital. Some traffic routes were changed to ensure that traffic movement remains smooth during the session. Doon residents’ concerns were taken care of while diverting the traffic routes during the session in the State capital, he added.