Protest chokes Shyambazar for 4 hrs, evening traffic takes a hit as cars crawl along one lane
Times of India | 4 September 2024
123 Kolkata: A Left rally demanding justice for the RG Kar victim converged at the Shyambazar five-point crossing on Tuesday evening, choking peak office-hour traffic for over four hours. A 10-minute drive to cross the Shyambazar crossing took over an hour with people forced to take the stretch below Lockgate flyover and head to Chitpore Road to take BT Road.The snarl, which kept growing every minute, started around 5 pm and eased well after 9:15 pm. Though police claimed they could keep the traffic moving along one lane, the entire crossing was brought to a complete standstill.
Sinthi resident Subhashish Chowdhury was returning home with his wife and child when he got stuck at Shyambazar on Tuesday. “We had to take a detour from Chitpore Road. But the traffic even there was very slow because all headed to BT Road were being forced to take that route. The Shyambazar five-point crossing was completely choked.”
Another commuter said: “A 10-minute drive across Shyambazar five-point crossing took me over an hour. We do support the cause but blocking roads in the evening on a weekday leads to tremendous hardship for people who step out to work.”
On Tuesday evening, Left leaders, including Biman Bose, Mohammed Salim, Sujan Chakraborty and Meenakshi Mukherjee, started the blockade by sitting on the road in front of the Netaji statue at Shyambazar. The procession was organized under the slogan ‘Burn the debris of failed lives and light the fire’. The Left Front state leaders had planned a march from the Rajabazar tram depot to RG Kar hospital. However, the procession was cut short at Shyambazar due to the prohibitory orders along the stretch. As a result, party leaders and workers squatted on the road at Shyambazar.