123 Kolkata: A large part of central Kolkata, covering the Burrabazar-Posta area and stretching up to Girish Park and Maniktala crossing, experienced slow traffic on Tuesday, the day of Dhanteras. Cops had to shut down Kalakar Street and normal traffic on Canning Street and Pollock Street had to be regulated to control the crowd surge, said Lalbazar sources. There was extra pressure on CR Avenue.
"With Vivekananda Road getting choked, the traffic tail increased on CR Avenue. Similar tails remained at the MG Road-CR Avenue crossing," an officer said.
"Unlike Durga Puja, when shopping was evenly spread across the city, Diwali sees a huge jump in trading in this part of the city. Hence, we have to ensure precautionary measures in central Kolkata," the officer added. However, the slow traffic was not confined to the trading hub. Sealdah-Amherst Street witnessed widespread disruptions due to pandals and barricades encroaching on the road. Several Howrah-bound buses from Sealdah avoided the clogged MG Road and BB Ganguly Street, and took SN Banerjee Road, which itself was clogged due to a number of pujas. Kiddepore, which witnessed brisk business along with metro construction, became another choke point.
"Vehicles entering MG Road from CR Avenue had no issue in doing so. But the sheer volume of vehicles coming from outside the city rendered even manual use of traffic lights inadequate. Vehicles stayed bumper-to-bumper in certain sections of Posta and between Girish Park and Md Ali Park on CR Avenue," said a DCP.
Local traffic cops have proposed specific barricading for pedestrians on Kalakar Street-Canning Street to allow the movement of vehicles. "This year, Diwali sales have not picked up yet and several trading days were lost due to inclement weather and protests. Hence, the rush will be higher in the final two days before Diwali, and we need to be prepared," an officer said.
Meanwhile, several special Diwali bazaars have come up in different pockets of central Kolkata, including Burrabazar, Canning Street and pockets of Brabourne Road, where stalls selling diyas, utensils, lights, items for puja and rangoli have been set up on carriageways. To manage the shopper surge, traffic has been restricted on various stretches, including Kalakar Street, Sir Hari Ram Goenka Street, Harrison Road, India Exchange Place, Cabbing Street and Rabindra Sarani.
The special markets attract thousands of buyers every day. "The fair will be on till Thursday. There are close to 200 shops in the special bazaar on Kalakar Street, stretching from Kali Krishna Tagore crossing to MG Road," said one of the organisers of the bazaar.