Chandigarh, November 4
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s visit led to massive traffic snarl-ups in the city for at least three hours today. Commuters were stranded for around 30 minutes at stretch as the UT police restricted traffic at various junctions near Sector 17 for VIP movement.
The Vice-President arrived at Sector 17 a little after 10 am to attend the 15th edition of the Premier Agri and Food Technology Fair and later proceeded to Panjab University around 11.15 am for an alumni meet, where he stayed for nearly an hour and a half.
Traffic was stopped at different light points, causing snarl-ups and inconvenience to commuters.
Priyanka Sood, a scooter rider, said she was stuck at the Sector 16/17/22/23 roundabout for at least half an hour. “While the traffic was halted due to VIP movement, the road towards the Sector 17 ISBT roundabout was closed, worsening the situation and leading to serpentine queues. Commuters have to bear the brunt each time a VIP visits the city,” she said.
Ranjit Singh, another commuter, said his daily commute between Haryana Secretariat and Sector 30 often took 20 minutes, but he encountered massive traffic jams on the road separating Sectors 9 and 17 today, nearly doubling the travel time. “It took me 15 minutes just to reach the Sector 17/18 light point from Sector 9,” he added.
It took around an hour for the situation to ease on roads adjoining Sector 17 after the VIP left the area. The presence of traffic cops at various points to regulate traffic proved to be of little help.
Many commuters took to the social media to raise complaints with the traffic police. One of the commuters claimed he had been stranded at Matka Chowk for around 30 minutes. Another commuter, who was stuck in traffic in Sector 8, rued the Vice-President’s visit to the city had led to an hour-long traffic jam.
