BJP rally floods Nagpur roads with vehicles, Diwali shoppers and ambulances caught in jams

Large parts of Nagpur came to a near standstill on Thursday as the BJP held its "Save Democracy" (Loktantra Bachao) rally in the city. Party workers from across Vidarbha arrived in huge numbers, and it was ordinary residents who ended up paying for the show of strength.

Estimates put the number of workers who travelled in from various districts at between 30,000 and 35,000. They came in more than 5,000 vehicles, which filled the main roads and produced long queues. Many people who had gone out to buy things for Diwali spent hours stuck on the road. Residents are now asking whether anyone gave a thought to the hardship of citizens before such a crowd was called to the city for a political programme.

Movement stopped completely on the stretch from Chhatrapati Chowk to Mankapur, and the roads that bring traffic into the city from Wardha Road were in the same condition. Vehicles stood in a line between Janata Chowk and Samvidhan Chowk. Heavy congestion was also seen on the Kasturchand Park flyover, the flyover at LIC Chowk and the Adivasi Gowari flyover. On many roads, the vehicles that had brought people to the rally blocked the city's normal flow so badly that motorists could not go forward at all.

The timing made matters worse for shoppers. With the festival close, the markets of Sitabuldi and Dhantoli were already full of buyers, and the closure of roads for the rally made it hard even to get there. The police had shut several roads, and people were forced onto long detours. Families, elderly people and small children had the worst of it. Traders may also lose business because of the jams in the middle of the festive season.

Emergency services were not spared either. Dhantoli and Ramdaspeth are home to several large private hospitals, and the evening rush there is heavy even on an ordinary day. The congestion caused by the rally hit ambulances as well. The question being asked is whether a separate route or lane, along with full arrangements, had been kept ready for emergency vehicles while the roads were filling up. If ambulances have to push their way through blockages to reach hospitals, the claims made about traffic planning count for very little.

The police had said beforehand that more than 700 personnel would be posted for the rally, and had also claimed that there would be no traffic jam. The situation on the ground contradicted both assurances. Major intersections, flyovers and the approach roads to the markets remained packed with vehicles. People are asking why the administration could not keep traffic moving despite such a large deployment.

Critics said the difficulties of common people went unnoticed in the noise of a rally held in the name of saving democracy. Political parties are entitled to show their strength, they said, but nobody has the right to trouble a whole city for it. The rally will end and the workers will return home, but the time lost in the jams and the trouble citizens went through will not be made up by anyone.