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Rain turns V-Day celebrations into a damp squib
Valentine's Day was a damp squib with rain playing a spoilsport and cops turning the 'geri route', markets and areas around educational institutes into a fortress on Friday. With nearly 1,400 cops stationed throughout the city to maintain law and order, youngsters opted for going to places around the city, instead of coming down to the city roads, to escape police attention.
Valentine's Day was a damp squib with rain playing a spoilsport and cops turning the 'geri route', markets and areas around educational institutes into a fortress on Friday. With nearly 1,400 cops stationed throughout the city to maintain law and order, youngsters opted for going to places around the city, instead of coming down to the city roads, to escape police attention.
The Chandigarh Police issued 21 challans for various traffic violations and had set up nakas at 70 points. Speeding, driving without helmet, honking and triple riding on two-wheelers invited punitive action. The police also received a couple of complaints from girls about stalking and becoming the butt of lewd remarks.
The holiday in schools and colleges on the account of Guru Ravidass Jayanti was also a reason for low-key celebrations across the city.
Heavy security cover was witnessed on the 3-km stretch of the famous 'geri route', including Sectors 9, 10 and 11. Till about 5pm, the route, generally frequented by youngsters, did not witness heavy traffic.
Barricades and check-posts were also set up in the markets of Sectors 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 44 and other areas. The road outside Mountview Hotel in Sector 10 and outside Elante Mall in Industrial Area also saw heavy deployment of cops throughout the day.
After 6 pm, police presence eased a bit and youngsters started zipping on the city roads. Traffic snarls were witnessed on roads leading to Sectors 9 and 10 for sometime in the evening.
The discotheques in Sector 26 also witnessed rush of youth by late evening. The police deployment was shifted near the discotheques in Sectors 17, 26 and 35 in evening. The police control room staff said they just got a couple of calls of brawls between boys at Sectors 17 and 35.
