Stuck in traffic snarls, Kolkata commuters wait on streets as their reps queue outside poll offices

KOLKATA: Commuters across a vast expanse of the city were kept waiting for long stretches on the first working day of the week as their future representatives got busy filing their nominations for the upcoming assembly election.

The worst-hit stretches included those around Alipore, Kalighat and Hazra, extending all the way to Chetla and even Tollygunge Phanri in the south, Majerhat to Ekbalpore in the southwest and even parts of MG Road-Hatibagan besides Strand Road in the central and northern parts of the city.

However, it was the Chetla-Alipore-Kalighat-Hazra stretch that bore the maximum brunt. As cops shut Dr S Radhakrishnan Road leading to the Judges Court Road, right at the Hazra crossing, the parked vehicles — belonging to the police and party workers — on both sides of SP Mukherjee Road only added to the chaos. A barely 400-metre stretch from Kalighat tram depot to Asutosh College took over 30 minutes to cross.

Sambit Sarkar, a bank employee travelling from Tollygunge, said: "There were small matadors, numbering at least 15, from near Basusree Cinema. Several BJP supporters stayed put there, reducing the road length to half. On the other side stood a large number of cops with all their bigger vehicles eating up road space. Behind them, a large number of Trinamool supporters ate up a large portion of the road. They too had multiple vehicles with them. I saw at least three school vehicles stuck in the jam amid the humid weather between 11.15 am and a little before noon."

Chhanda Banerjee, who got stuck with her daughter, who has come from Ireland, in a cab near Bhawani Bhawan, said the traffic jams coincided with Metro disruptions, adding to the chaos. "Ideally, the number of supporters accompanying a candidate needs to be restricted," said Banerjee.

Similarly, commuters trying to enter the city via Alipore had to spend over 30 minutes to cross the 1-km stretch from Majerhat to Ekbalpore. From morning to the better part of the afternoon, a large stretch of Diamond Harbour Road — from Behala Pathakpara in the south to Kidderpore in the north — was chock-a-block with bumper-to-bumper traffic as traffic personnel managed to keep the traffic flow intact.

Anil Sharma, an app cab driver, said it took him over 40 minutes to cross the 2-km stretch between Taratala and Mominpore.