Rush of devotees on Chhath causes massive traffic jams at Doraha

The Chhath Puja today led to a massive traffic jam on the canal road and bridge in Doraha on Thursday. The entire road was clogged due to the massive gathering and procession taken out by the migrant community along the banks of the Sirhind canal.

As hundreds of devotees flocked to the canal banks to offer prayers to the sun god, traffic came to a halt leading to harassment of commuters. Though the traffic police kept fighting the huge onrush, lack of smart diversions and paucity of police personnel aggravated the situation.

As the entire traffic came to a sudden halt due to the protest, commuters were badly caught up and stranded for hours. Traffic had to be diverted through alternate routes, the police was on its toes and made every possible effort to ease the congestion as far as possible. The commuters managed to reach their destination with great difficulty due to traffic congestion.

School and college students were the worst hit. It was time for closure of schools and they got stuck in the jam. It was only after the crowd thinned a bit that they could reach home. The jam created a lot of confusion and harassment to the commuters everywhere.

“Doraha is my workplace. As I was returning home in Ludhiana, I realised that all roads were blocked. I had to wait for nearly an hour before the traffic finally cleared. I reached home after 5 pm as a result of which my children kept waiting for me,” shared Sarabjit Kaur, who teaches in a local school.