Cops barricade 66ft road, commuters a harried lot

Jalandhar, January 27

Commuters were a harried lot due to the visit of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders to Jalandhar on Thursday. A long stretch of the road, starting from petrol station to Jalandhar Heights, and even some nearby areas were closed early in the morning for security reasons. It remained closed till Rahul left in the evening.

The stretch is used by thousands of people residing in the localities along the road and by commuters travelling to Nakodar, Pholriwal village and Mithapur. The commuters had to take kutcha roads that pass through villages in Jalandhar Cantt and other long routes to reach their destinations. Besides, a long traffic jam was witnessed on Mithapur road that further leads to Cheema Chowk.

“From former CM Capt Amarinder Singh to Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the Congress government in past has many times vowed to end VIP culture, but in reality it is otherwise. Whenever any senior leader or CM’s convoy has to pass or attend function somewhere, several roads are closed and barricaded, giving commuters a tough time,” said Mayank Kumar, a resident.

Another resident, Jyoti Sachdeva of Jalandhar Heights 1, said it took her 30 minutes to drop his son to the tuition centre that’s just 500m away from her house. “I requested police officials to kindly allow me to go, but they refused and instead of sharing any alternate route, they insisted that I should go back home and teach my son on my own,” she said.

Residents complained that no proper route diversion was planned and the entire stretch was closed to give freeway to Rahul Gandhi. “The road should have been closed for a few minutes before the arrival of the guests. We do understand the security concerns, but closing the road when people leave for their work and children for their classes, can’t be justified,” said Balminder Kaur.

Another commuter Shamsher Singh said: “The residents often have to face such troubles during visits of VVIPs. These unjustified restrictions imposed on commuters are absolutely wrong. Why people should suffer due to ministers or others?”

Meanwhile, the police deployed at the venue and at barricades maintained that due security reasons, they received the orders to close the entire stretch for traffic.