BHOPAL : The state capital came to a standstill for the five hours when PM Narendra Modi was in the city to inaugurate the Vishwa Hindi Sammelan” on Thursday. Traffic in old as well as New Bhopal was thrown haywire due to the traffic diversion which was enforced for five hours from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
As the routes that were blocked connect the old and the new city, the problem was compounded.
The Roshanpura square, Old Jail Square, Lalghati, Retghat, Kamla Park, Polytechnic College Square, Jehangirabad and Lal Parade Ground vicinity were completely sealed. Even pedestrians were not allowed.
Only those holding passes for entry into the Convention were allowed to go to. The cops did not accept any other Identity cards or other documents.
SPG was handling PM Narendra Modi security while 2500 cops were deployed to enforce traffic diversion and to function as outer layer of security. Traffic police had to face ire of the commuters.
Traffic diversion posed problems for the commuters as it was office timing 9:30 to 10:30AM. It led confrontation between commuters and security forces.
The office goers living in Old City could not reach offices located at MP Nagar, Board Office, banks in time while residents of New Bhopal who wanted to go LIC office (MLA Rest House), Airtel executives (MLA rest House) were not allowed to breach the multi-layered security. Even lawyers could not reach district court in time.
Shops in the vicinity of Roshanpura Square did no open till 12:00 noon. However, traffic was smooth on other roads including from Chetak Bridge to Board Office, Habibganj and Press Complex.
Many children preferred to stay at home instead of going schools and stranding for the hours in traffic jam. However, many schools administration, sensing the seriousness of the situation, conveyed parents through SMSs to pick up their ward at 1:00PM instead of 2:30PM as schools were over quite earlier due to traffic jam.
The traffic diversion increased the traffic pressure on parallel routes leading to traffic jam. This scene prevailed in MP Nagar, Press Complex, Jinsi Road.
