Traffic movement was affected in parts of central Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon following a rally by a section of state government employees demanding the release of their pending dearness allowance (DA) from the government.
The protesters had converged from different parts to the Metro channel near Esplanade before marching down to the state Assembly.
Buses, cars, two-wheelers and smaller goods vehicles crawled for over an hour as vehicular movement was hit across stretches of College Street, BB Ganguly Street, Chittaranjan Avenue, SN Banerjee Road and Mayo Road following the rally by a section of government employees and their retired counterparts.
Part of the vehicles headed for Esplanade from Park Street had to be diverted down Mayo Road after the queue of stranded vehicles stretched beyond Lindsay Street on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. Cars and buses headed for Esplanade from Sealdah were directed to move down AJC Bose Road after vehicles came to a halt on SN Banerjee Road when the protesters converged on Rani Rashmoni Avenue and the Dorina crossing.
“Vehicles had to be diverted from 2.30pm after a section of the protesters started assembling at College Square. College Street from BB Ganguly Street and Eden Hospital Road from Chittaranjan Avenue had to be shut to vehicles for some time,” said a senior officer of the Kolkata police.
“Vehicles headed for Esplanade along Chittaranjan Avenue had to be diverted through Ganesh Chandra Avenue and BB Ganguly Street.”
As the protesters kept assembling at Esplanade before walking down Rani Rashmoni Avenue towards their final destination, the state Assembly, the movement of vehicles towards Girish Park and Park Street along Chittaranjan Avenue from Esplanade came to almost a halt for around an hour.
The queue of buses, cars and mini-buses on SN Banerjee Road kept growing. Senior officers from Lalbazar had to instruct their counterparts on these stretches of roads to start diverting vehicles towards Park Street along AJC Bose Road.
With rows of cars stranded near the Park Street flyover, all vehicles from AJC Bose Road were diverted down Mayo Road towards Esplanade Row East. Around 4pm, with the police struggling to contain the protesters on RR Avenue during their demonstration, the movement of buses and cars down Esplanade Row East took a beating.
“Movement of vehicles on Red Road wasn’t hit since it did not peak traffic hours,” said the officer.
Late in the evening, the police said 44 protesters were arrested for breaking the provisions of Section 144 of CrPC and converging around the state Assembly.
Four police officials, including a senior officer, were injured during the scuffle with the protesters on RR Avenue , the officers said.
Traffic gradually began to move along all the thoroughfares from 6.30pm after the protesters moved out of Rani Rashmoni Avenue.