Chandigarh witnessed massive traffic chaos on Friday as a farmers' protest brought several key roads to a standstill, leaving commuters stranded in hours-long traffic jams.
In photos: Chandigarh gridlocked amid farmers’ march
More than 100 buses, tractor-trolleys and other vehicles carrying farmers arrived in the city. The protesters marched from Sector 34 to Matka Chowk, demanding a reduction in petrol and diesel prices.
The march led to severe traffic congestion across Chandigarh, with vehicles crawling on several major roads.
Image credit: Pradeep Tewari
From Madhya Marg to Dakshin Marg, traffic remained choked as police struggled to regulate the flow of vehicles. Despite the farmers having announced the protest in advance, the traffic police appeared unprepared, with several in-roads witnessing major bottlenecks.
Adding to the commuters' woes, the dispersal of schools coincided with the farmers' protest, further worsening the congestion. Several school buses carrying children were caught in the gridlock and remained stranded on city roads for over an hour, leaving anxious parents and exhausted students stuck in slow-moving traffic.
“We've been stuck in this traffic jam for over 45 minutes. The children on the bus are getting restless,” said the driver of a school bus caught in the traffic.
“It’s normally a 10-minute drive from St Stephen's School to our home, but today it took my child and me nearly an hour-and-a-half because of the protest,” said Aditi Bansal, a parent caught in the traffic.
Though the Chandigarh Police had made elaborate security arrangements and issued a traffic advisory to regulate vehicular movement in and around the protest venue, there was chaos on the roads.
Long serpentine queues of vehicles stretched for kilometres along Madhya Marg and in road on Sectors 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21, causing significant inconvenience to commuters.
"If the authorities knew the protests were planned, why weren't effective traffic arrangements made? This is complete chaos, and traffic is moving at a snail's pace," said Rakesh, a commuter travelling towards Zirakpur.
The worst affected were commuters heading to the Chandigarh railway station and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport in Mohali.
"We've been stuck here for nearly an hour with no movement at all," said a traveller caught in the traffic near Sector 17 while trying to catch a flight.