Protest, Independence Day rehearsal bring Lucknow to a grinding halt

LUCKNOW: Hazratganj and its adjoining areas remained jammed for over four hours on Monday because of rehearsal for Independence Day celebrations and a protest by Congress workers at GPO over children's deaths in Gorakhpur.
From 9am, commuters travelling from Nishatganj to Charbagh complained of bottlenecks at Nishatganj flyover, Baikunth Dham, Kaiserbagh crossing and Parivartan crossing despite di versions by the traffic police.
Congress workers, who had come to stage a sit-in at GPO, came on the roads suddenly, taking police by surprise. “I was crossing the road when the group of protesters came out and there may have been a stampede,“ said Anupama Rawat, a college student.
Hazratganj CO Abhay Mishra said hundreds of Congress workers came out on the road without prior information and sat down to protest on the busy Vidhan Sabha Marg, disrupting the traffic on the busy road.“Around 153 workers were detained along with UPCC chief Raj Babbar and taken to Gosainganj where they were let off after signing a personal bond,“ he said.
ASP (Traffic) RS Nim told TOI that back-to-back VVIP movement of the Governor and chief minister caused traffic to halt and the Congress protest further blocked the movement despite diversions that were announced well in advance and commuters faced a lot of problem.