Tense showdown on streets

KOLKATA: The last time the student wings of the rival parties met within stone's throw of each other in Kolkata, one youngster ended up being blinded in an eye. On Friday, the parties will face off again in a show of strength at Esplanade. And no one knows what will happen.
What's certain is that your day is ruined. From about 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening, Kolkata will come to a standstill as the Trinamool Congress and CPM's student organisation, SFI, hold massive rallies in the heart of the city.SFI's was planned, Trinamool's is a spur-of-the-moment decision. And it is likely to be an emotionally charged affair as they will march with three corpses of Trinamool supporters murdered in Mangalkote and Ketugram of Burdwan.
What's more, the presence of CPM state secretary Biman Bose in the SFI rally and Mamata Banerjee in the Trinamool procession is likely to draw crowds by the thousands.
Police have warned that there will be little breathing space on the roads on Friday. They fear that even a minor provocation could trigger a violent clash. Officers are clueless how to manage traffic and keep the rival armies away from each other when the city centre collapses under their combined weight.
"There will be four major processions from Howrah, Moulali, Park Street and Sealdah station at 10am," said SFI state committee member Subrata Naiya. Police say the rally from Sealdah will obstruct key road links like Sealdah flyover, AJC Bose Road and S N Banerjee Road for more than 40/50 minutes in peak hour. "This is when Esplanade gets the highest number of vehicles in the day. The procession alone is enough to trigger a major chaos," said a traffic police officer.
Following right behind this will be another SFI contingent from Moulali. Commuters coming from south Kolkata and Howrah will face choking traffic jams as SFI processions march from Park Street and Howrah. Traffic in Esplanade, Dalhousie and the central business district of Burrabazar will be paralysed.
SFI leaders said that they are
expecting a gathering of 25,000 at the Metro channel where meeting will start at 1pm. A police officer said that if the SFI manages to bring in 7,000-odd supporters then both flanks of JL Nehru Road will be closed during the meeting, causing a major ripple effect across large parts of the city.
To make matters worse, police don't have an idea of when the Trinamool rally will start and which route it will take. "We plan to take the three bodies to College Square from the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road mortuary at 2pm. From there, we will march to SN Banerjee Road and JL Nehru Road crossing," said Trinamool Chhatra Parishad leader Baishanar Chatterjee.