Thursday, 25 APRIL 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Commuters faced prolonged traffic congestion on Wednesday due to the route diversion the police enforced in the wake of President Droupadi Murmu’s two-day Uttarakhand visit. They said that to avoid getting stuck in serpentine traffic bottlenecks, they had chosen longer and circuitous routes to reach destinations on time.
The traffic police advisory listed various city routes such as Nehru Colony, Dalanwala, Raipur and Premnagar for rerouting of traffic in view of the VVIP visit.
A commuter Sanjay Anand while venting out his annoyance on suffering the on- the- road ordeal on a sweltering day said that he had remained stuck in a nearly bumper to bumper traffic congestion for close to 45 minutes. “Consequently, I arrived at the office late,” he said.
Echoing the same, another commuter Ragni Chanda expressed her frustration on arriving late at her office in Nehru Colony from Raipur due to diverted routes. “Though I tried other roads than what I take normally, I could not avoid being late for office,” she added.
Several students heading for schools/ colleges suffered the road woes due to the traffic disruption. A college student Hemant Kurunga blamed inadequate coordination of police authorities in managing traffic flow during route diversion for the traffic mess which led to his missing his semester examination. “I must say that regardless of status, everyone’s time is valuable and diverting routes during VVIP visits only inconvenience the locals like me,” he said.
Many persons heading to hospitals to see their near and dear ones admitted there expressed the same frustration and urged the authorities to strike a balance between the VVIP visits and the common people’s right to a smooth commute.
