Traffic spiraled into utter chaos on Friday as farmers tried to enter Chandigarh from Mohali to stage a protest outside the Punjab chief minister’s house in Sector 3.
The turmoil began around 11 am when police stopped the farmers at the Chandigarh-Mohali borders near Phase 2, Phase 6 and Phase 9, and blocked the borders for traffic, throwing traffic into complete disarray.
Commuters, who were forced to take detours through narrow internal roads, were caught off guard due to the lack of prior warnings from traffic authorities, resulting in hours-long delays at major intersections. The congestion had a cascading effect on the inner roads of both Chandigarh and Mohali.
There are 10 main intersections on Vikas Marg to go to Mohali. Apart from the three borders blocked by police, the road from Faidan barrier near Sector 48 to Mohali was already blocked due to Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s visit to Mohali, further compounding the traffic chaos.
Meanwhile, the road going from Zirakpur barrier towards Airport light point was also closed on the other side of the city till the afternoon.
Chandigarh SSP Kanwardeep Kaur said farmers were going to march towards the Punjab chief minister’s residence. Therefore, police stopped them, but they sat on the roads. Resultantly, police had to close the three borders for traffic.
“Barring three points on Vikas Marg, including the Sector 40/41/54/55, Sector 41/42/54/53 and Sector 44/45/50/51 intersections, which were opened in the evening, rest all borders were opened during the day. Police remained on its toes to ensure smooth flow of traffic,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“Barring three points on Vikas Marg, including the Sector 40/41/54/55, Sector 41/42/54/53 and Sector 44/45/50/51 intersections, which were opened in the evening, rest all borders were opened during the day. Police remained on its toes to ensure smooth flow of traffic,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Students’ parents trapped in logjams, ambulances rushing patients stranded
Frustrated residents and anxious parents attempting to reach schools to pick up their children found themselves trapped in the mayhem, which worsened as school buses also got stuck in the gridlock.
Shama Mahajan, a resident of Phase 3B2, complained that she was trying in vain to reach her minor daughter’s school in Sector 41 for the last 30 minutes. “They are turning the entire traffic right. We have no idea how to enter Chandigarh. My daughter will be waiting and she doesn’t have a phone,” she rued.
Prateek Rishi, who lives in Sector 4, Panchkula, said he faced terrible traffic coming from Mohali and was stuck at the Sector 47 roundabout for around an hour.
Shekhar Dutt, a UPSC teacher and entrepreneur with over 34,000 followers on Twitter, also posted about how Chandigarh was completely choked, announcing that he will vote for any party that will get rid of traffic jams.
Ambulances were also found blaring horns for clearance, with public buses ferrying hundreds of passengers also stranded in the logjam.
“We had no idea that the roads would be closed. I had to go to PGIMER, where my mother is admitted. The farmers do not realise what people go through each time they block roads,” decried Ashwini Kumar, a resident of Mohali.
Commuters headed to Mohali also bore the brunt of the traffic snarls. Amarjeet Singh, who was returning from Chandigarh with his granddaughter, said, “We have been stuck in traffic for over an hour trying to reach our home in Phase 4. I have brought back my granddaughter from school.”
No preparations by police despite prior protest announcement
The protest had been called by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), along with arhtiya unions and rice millers associations, who all have issues regarding paddy procurement by the Punjab government.
President BS Rajewal had said a few days back that farmers would gather outside the CM residence to protest the poor procurement of paddy in Punjab.
Despite this, no advisory was issued by the traffic police of either Chandigarh or Mohali, even as they had alerted commuters about the movement of Vice-President Dhankhar.
Consequently, commuters who ply between Chandigarh and Mohali from the affected intersections were caught completely unaware on Friday morning.
Farmers were able to reach Kisan Bhawan in Sector 35 by afternoon, which led to traffic jams in the busy area. Police, meanwhile, barricaded the bhawan’s gate while the meeting was going on, which led to further chaos as the farmers tried to jump the barricades.
The protesters said they will continue their protest at Kisan Bhawan till the Punjab government started lifting paddy.
The protesting farmers, arhtiya unions and rice millers associations have been invited by chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for a meeting on Saturday. However, police officials weren’t clear about whether the same traffic diversions will continue on Saturday.
SSP (Traffic) Sumer Pratap Singh remained unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to reach out to him.