Maha Kumbh impact: Traffic woes spill over, from highways to roads in Ayodhya

According to official sources, nearly 10 lakh people were reaching Ayodhya daily till Sunday. However, the number rose to 15 lakh by Monday evening, they added.

As devotees in large numbers continue to visit Ayodhya from ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, all roads leading to the temple town from Lucknow, Sultanpur, Rae Bareli, Gorakhpur , Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh districts are blocked.

Traffic jam on Mirzapur- Prayagraj route on February 10. (Agency)

This is causing a lot of problems for those wishing to visit the temple town. On the other hand, traffic restrictions in Ayodhya have also hindered traffic movement in the city, hitting normal life.

Officials posted on six national highways connecting Ayodhya say they are bound to restrict traffic movement around 20 km before the temple town to control crowd.

“This arrangement has been made for the safety of devotees and local residents. The system will return to normal only when the crowd pressure decreases,” said circle officer, Ayodhya, Ashutosh Tiwari.

According to official sources, nearly 10 lakh people were reaching Ayodhya daily till Sunday. However, the number rose to 15 lakh by Monday evening, they added.

All by-lanes touching Ram Path area also blocked and barricaded. Entry to Ayodhya is prohibited and only pedestrian can enter the town.

VN Arora, retired principal of Ayodhya’s Saket Degree College said, “It took me about eight hours to reach Ayodhya from Lucknow.”

The influx of crowd coming to Ayodhya from Makar Sankranti festival is showing no signs of stopping. Due to heavy crowd, numerous traffic restrictions have been imposed in the city also.

“The heavy influx of crowd has badly affected local residents as well as children attending schools and colleges. Because of the long queues of devotees on the Ram Path, barricades have been placed on the dividers and link roads, blocking the way,” said one Jitendra Gupta of Raiganj area of Ayodhya.

“Crossing the road is not allowed under any circumstances. As school buses, e-buses, and autos are not operating, students studying in Ayodhya city are unable to attend schools and colleges,” he claimed.

“Due to the heavy crowd, a nearly two km long line gets formed since morning for those visiting Hanuman Garhi and the Ram Temple on the Ram Path,” Gupta said.

“Therefore, the police administration has barricaded the routes leading to the Ram Path through the alleys and along the divider in the middle of the Ram Path, halting movement,” he claimed. “As a result, people are unable to walk from one side of the Ram Path to the other,” Gupta said.