Oppn rallies, sit-in protest cause traffic inconvenience

Plying of vehicles on Rawdon Street was restricted from afternoon onwards as Congress supporters too staged a demonstration outside the office of the State Election Commission (SEC), leading to major inconvenience as traffic had to be diverted to other alternate routes.

The agitation of Congress continued till police came and dispersed the mob. There was a large contingent of police posted outside the office.

The situation turned worse when Left Front workers started marching from Moulali towards Rawdon Street. The traffic had to be diverted. Rawdon Street was closed from Theatre Road crossing.

The traffic towards Mallickbazar from Park Street was also diverted from Loudon Street towards Theatre Road. The diversion of traffic was due to a procession. Common people faced inconvenience as vehicles were found standing in queues on the other adjacent roads as Rawdon Street was closed for movement of traffic.

Most of the offices of private owned companies were open on Monday.

As a result, a large section of people faced inconvenience due to rallies and the sit-in-demonstration.

Traffic sergeants were trying their level best in keeping the vehicles moving so that the congestion could be cleared as soon as possible.

Monotosh Sarkar, a resident of North Kolkata, said: "Organising rallies all of a sudden without any prior information causes inconvenience to people. We get harassed for nothing and it also creates a negative impression about the city amongst people from outside Kolkata."

Sumita Dey, who works in a private company, said: "She has an appointment with a senior official of a company and has to reach there on time else it would lead to a huge loss of my company. Strict measures should be taken for blocking road all of a sudden, whatever the cause may be."