Commute pain: Students and office-goers bear rally brunt
Times of India | 11 April 2025
123456 Kolkata: Back-to-back rallies and the consequent traffic disruptions impacted the commute of students, both while going to school and also while returning home after dispersal.
A school bus from the South Point junior section, ferrying children home after dispersed, was forced to return to the institute after being stuck in a jam. "There were 25 children stuck on their way back home due to traffic jams across all major routes. The bus was asked to return. The children's parents were called to the school to take them back," said a school official.
The worst affected were students at schools in central Kolkata, where roads remained choked all day. Fronsika Gomes, a class IX student at Loreto Day School Dharamtala, who usually returns home alone, called her mother, Lina, to take her back on Thursday. "She called me as she was scared to see so many people gathered in front of the school gate. I had a difficult time reaching the school as no vehicle was available. Returning was also a challenge and we had no choice but to walk," said Lina. Fronsika said many of her classmates, who travelled by pooled cars, could not reach school. Given the chaos on roads, their classes also got over early. "There was a huge gathering at noon. People were trying to enter the school. But the gate was shut. We were asked to stay in classrooms. I called my mother to come and pick me up," Fronsika said.
Two class-V students at Jewish Girls' School, Fatema Ekbal and Rabeya Khan, appeared tired as they walked from Park Street to the Esplanade metro station in the harsh sun, heavy bags on their back. Sakil Khan, Rabeya's father, said, "All the major roads were blocked. We could not find any bus to Raja Bazar."
Even office-goers faced major trouble right in the morning. Advocate Zohaib Rauf had to go to SSKM Hospital for his mother's admission. "I was not following the news and so, was unaware of the possible disruption. Soon after I left home on CIT Road, I got stuck at Park Circus Seven-Point crossing."
Arupam Dutta of Pool Car Owners' Welfare Association said several of their vehicles that travelled from north to south Kolkata were caught in jams that lasted hours. A few cars, ferrying children from South Point, took a long detour to EM Bypass to head towards Shyambazar. "A school in Park Circus dispersed children much before their usual time before the rally began so early that it did not help much," said Aritra Manna, a pool car owner, who said he drove all the way to Science City and availed of Maa Flyover to drop children in Chetla.
A commuter, Devtanu Raha, remained stuck at Ballygunge Phari as Park Circus was choked, and disruption spilled over to Ballygunge. "I had some important work but got late for it. I tried to book app bikes, but even those could not come to the location," said Raha. Entrepreneur Arijit Ray also got stuck at Park Circus for almost an hour and missed a meeting. " It was really painful to wait in this heat for so long," Ray said.