Kolkata crawls due to massive protests by jobless teachers, Jamiat-e-Ulama
Times of India | 10 April 2025
KOKLATA: The city centre remained choked throughout Thursday morning — once again mid-week — as two separate protests, held just 1.5 km apart, brought north-south traffic to a crawl.
One rally was organised by the West Bengal State Jamiat-e-Ulama at Ramlila Maidan in Entally, while the other involved teachers who recently lost their jobs following a Supreme Court verdict.
Their protest began at Sealdah and concluded at Esplanade. The worst affected were school and college students trying to return home and passengers en route to Sealdah station.
Several pool cars were stranded in traffic and had to take long detours. Police were seen helping passengers headed for the Rajdhani Express reach Sealdah station on time.
According to police, while they were prepared for the Ramlila Maidan rally, they were caught off guard by the large influx of vehicles from various districts converging at Entally.
As a result, traffic congestion spread beyond Rajabazar–Esplanade, affecting areas as far as Mullickbazar and Howrah Bridge.
A large number of buses and mini-trucks parked on AJC Bose Road, Lenin Sarani, and SN Banerjee Road further worsened the situation, bringing traffic between Sealdah and Esplanade to a near standstill.
Even after the teachers’ protest ended, traffic did not return to normal until around 3pm. Smaller rallies held by citizen groups and political organisations added to the traffic chaos.