Sunday, 03 October 2021 | PNS | Haridwar
Gandhi Jayanti falling on the weekend along with Pitra Ekadashi resulted in major traffic congestion in Haridwar city. The main roads and internal roads of the city were clogged with vehicles of pilgrims and tourists during the early hours of the day. Vehicles were seen crawling due to congestion between Sinhdwar and VIP Ghat.
Those travelling to Rishikesh and Dehradun got some respite from the congestion after Pantdweep. Locals opine that the experience on Saturday exposed the inefficiency of the Haridwar traffic police. Travellers getting lost in confusion due to highway reconstruction and new flyovers is also being considered a reason for the congestion. One of the visitors who had come to bathe in the Ganga, Aniket Yadav said that he wanted to reach Har Ki Paidi but ended up reaching Shantikunj. He said that he got confused by the roads on coming to Haridwar after two years. According to the police, about 1,400 vehicles entered the district every hour on Saturday.
Superintendent of police (Traffic) Pradeep Rai said that initially 1,000 vehicles were entering per hour which rose to 1,400 vehicles per hour. Pitra Ekadashi, Gandhi Jayanti and the weekend resulted in a large number of pilgrims and tourists entering Haridwar. The police were deployed at all major locations due to which the situation improved later in the afternoon.
