Friday, 17 December 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
With the Assembly elections not far, political rallies addressed by national level leaders and events held by state units of various parties are expected to increase in frequency. The rally addressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday traffic on various routes being diverted and zero zone being declared on various roads around the event venue- Parade Ground. With traffic diverted from main roads, the traffic jam on internal routes face was exacerbated. Traffic was seen crawling on Mohini Road, Karnpur and even Sahastradhara Road where traffic jams usually do not occur. The impact of the rally on Thursday caused major inconvenience to the public in various areas.
Sakshi Gusain said, “These political rallies do more harm than good. Earlier this month, when PM Modi arrived, we faced a lot of problems due to the traffic jams all over the city. I had an exam that day and was late despite leaving early.” She added that the situation of Dehradun’s traffic is not good and such events worsen it.
Amar Das, a parent said, “We left home early to drop the kids to school and will wait till the school gets over to avoid getting stuck in the traffic.” Another parent added, “We were already afraid to send our kids to school these days amid Covid and these large public gatherings are an invitation for an increase in cases in Dehradun.”
Senior citizen Bimla Devi said, “My daughter-in-law gave birth. We called for an ambulance to go home but it arrived after two hours due to a political rally.” Businessman Abhisheik Kumar questioned what happens to government directions for Covid appropriate behaviour during the political rallies. He said, “All the traffic is halted when a VIP is passing by. The authorities don’t seem to consider our work important or that we also have to reach on time.”
