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Bharat Jodo Yatra: Confusion, chaos as city sees heavy traffic rush, commuters suffer
The major impact of the traffic jams was witnessed at Dholewal Chowk, Transport Nagar, CMC Hospital Road, Chandigarh road, Basti Jodhewal Chowk and Jalandhar Bypass as the police restricted the entry of vehicles at various sections
: The traffic diversions put in place due to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in the city led to heavy traffic jams and confusion among the commuters as they found it difficult to reach their destination even hours after the Congress leader left the city.
The major impact of the traffic jams was witnessed at Dholewal Chowk, Transport Nagar, CMC Hospital Road, Chandigarh road, Basti Jodhewal Chowk and Jalandhar Bypass as the police restricted the entry of vehicles at various sections.
Hours before Gandhi reached the city, the police forced the shopkeepers around Samrala Chowk to shut down their shops and they remained closed even hours after he left the place.
Gandhi, along with other congressmen took a service lane to reach Samrala Chowk from Doraha. The police blocked the entry of vehicles on one side of the national highway. The traffic movement was slightly affected on the national highway as vehicles from both the directions were moving on a single side of the highway.
After the Yatra reached near Giaspura Road crossing, the traffic movement towards Sherpur Chowk was restricted. Similarly, the barricades were installed near Manju Cinema to restrict the movement of vehicles towards Cheema Chowk to Samrala Chowk.
The traffic movement was also restricted from Baba Than Singh Chowk towards Samrala Chowk.
Residents said that due to the barricades at various points, they struggled to find the right route to reach their destination.
Dr Harcharan Kaur, a local, said that she left her house in the morning on her scooter to reach her clinic near Baba Than Singh Chowk, but the police stopped the traffic near Samrala Chowk and made her and many others move forward.
Stuck in jam, another woman, Sunita, who was taking her ailing pet dog to a vet, started crying in front of the police personnel near Samrala Chowk.
“After reaching Samrala Chowk, the police did not allow me to go to the Chandigarh road citing VVIP movement. What if my pet had died after not getting treatment,”said the woman.
Many factory workers were also stuck at Samrala Chowk as the police did not allow them to move till Gandhi was in the city.
One of the workers Mukesh Kumar said that he works in a factory in Focal point and after reaching Samrala Chowk, the police guided the traffic to take an alternative route. After reaching Tibba road, police officials pushed the traffic backward and after one hour, he found himself back at Samrala Chowk.
“The police officers were not clear about the routes and I reached late for work. Due to this, the manager would mark my half day leave,” he added.
