Jat agitation blocks Gurgaon roads, students stuck in school and on roads for hours

The quota agitation by the Jat community spread to Gurgaon on Friday, with protesters blocking all major intersections and several roads, bringing the city to a halt. Among those who had to bear the brunt, the most panicked were parents whose kids did not return in time from school since buses were stuck in jams – many buses even returned to the schools.Frantic calls were made to schools and parents had to leave everything aside, including client meetings, to fetch their children from schools. With the protests still on, schools in the city had been advised by deputy commissioner TL Satyaprakash to remain closed. “It is just a precautionary measure. We have issued only an advisory for Saturday. Some children reportedly had to wait in schools for a long time on Friday. We don’t want children to suffer in any way,” he said.
Kid stuck in school till evening Ruchi Yadav, a dentist and DLF Phase 2 resident, says, “My son goes to a private school in Sector 48. He comes home around 1.15pm and when I called the bus attendant, he said they were still in school because Sohna Road was blocked. I then received a text from the school, apprising us of the situation. I also had to pick up my daughter, who studies in Vasant Kunj, from her bus stop at 3pm. After that I went to pick up my son. It took three hours to reach the school, which is 7-8 km away from our home. I also picked up my neighbour’s child, since she was stuck in Noida. Though the school provided the kids food and kept them busy, the really young ones were crying. I was scared because I had heard that the protesters had attacked (Haryana minister) Capt Abhimanyu’s house in Rohtak. The school had a sports event scheduled for Saturday, which was cancelled.”
Got a call in the middle of a meeting to pick up kids from school “I was in the middle of a meeting when my husband called and said that I will have to pick up the kids from the school in South City 1. On my way, I saw many parents facing a tough time reaching the school. Many were annoyed with the school for not planning for emergency situations properly. On my way back, I had to take several detours to reach home,” says Nidhi Taneja, who runs an event management company.
A 20 min journey took two hours Kanupriya Jain, a graphic designer, says, “My kid studies in a pre-nursery school that’s just 10 minutes away from our house, but when I went to pick him up on Friday, I was stuck at the Ninex crossing for almost an hour. The road going towards Rajiv Chowk was blocked and the traffic was being diverted towards the Paras Hospital road. Once I reached the Good Earth mall, I realised that not only was the road blocked, there was also no way to get out of there. So I parked my car and walked to the school. It was 2.15pm by the time I reached, while the school’s dispersal time is 12.45pm. Returning home was another mess. The journey that usually takes 20 minutes, took me more than two hours.” Sonia Poddar, a stay-at-home mom, says, “My son is in Class III. We received a mail from his school saying that they will disperse the kids early, at 1pm, due to the agitation. It takes him half an hour to reach home from school, but when he didn’t arrive by 1.30pm, I called the bus driver. He said that they were stuck near the Good Earth mall, which is just five minutes away from the school. They were stuck at the same place even after another half an hour. So I drove through service lanes, parked my car some 4km away from where the bus was stuck and walked. I picked up my son and my neighbour’s kid and we walked back to the car and drove home.”
Son reached home from school at 7pm Suchitra Yadav, a homemaker, says, “When I called my kid’s school to check what time they would be letting him off, they told me that it’ll take some time. I waited for 40 minutes and called them again. The teachers told me that I’ll have to pick him up, since the buses won’t be plying. I was stuck in a jam for 45 minutes within a kilometre of my home as the entire road was blocked. So I turned around and returned home. I called up the school again at 5pm to check on my son. Thankfully, another parent, who was on a bike, had picked his child and was ready to give my son a lift back home. Finally, my son reached home at 7pm. I was so agitated and helpless the whole day.”