ABVP rally disrupts traffic

Traffic was thrown out of gear in some parts of North and Central Kolkata on Wednesday following a rally organised by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) from Shyambazar five point crossing to College Street.

People were seriously inconvenienced as the vehicles on various parts of Northern fringes in the city came to a standstill.

A scuffle broke out between the police and the ABVP supporters when the latter party was heading towards the Calcutta University as the security forces had opposed the demonstrators from entering into the College Street campus.

The ABVP supporters were trying to overpower the police to enter into the university campus.

But there was adequate deployment of force which thwarted their attempt. Police held around 45 ABVP supporters for creating trouble in the area.

Before heading towards the university, the ABVP supporters staged a sit in demonstration at the MG Road and College Street crossing, leading to a huge traffic jam on MG Road.

This had immensely affected the traffic movement. Many vehicles from Howrah which were approaching the Howrah Bridge had to take Vidyasagar Setu as there was a huge traffic jam on the Howrah Bridge. Even the traffic flow on Vidyasagar Setu was not normal.

ABVP took a rally with a demand of 12-point agenda including a campaign of “save campus”.

The supporters alleged that there was not a conducive atmosphere for study in the campus.

As the police stopped the rally from entering the CU campus, a four member delegation team under the leadership of ABVP state secretary Subir Haldar visited the office of the Vice-chancellor of the CU and submitted a memorandum.

Their demands include the improvement of the standard of the study in the university and improving the environment of the university campuses.

Many people questioned the rationality of holding the rally on a weekday throwing the traffic in the many parts of the city out of gear.