July 21 on a Sunday is a relief. The number of people likely to be inconvenienced on the roads will be far less.

Major portions of central Calcutta will remain blocked for the Trinamool Congress’s Martyrs’ Day rally on Sunday. Movement of goods vehicles except those carrying oxygen, vegetables, fruits, medicine, fish, milk, LPG cylinders, petroleum and oil will be restricted within the city between 3am and 8pm on Sunday.

Timings

Rally begins: Noon. But central Calcutta is expected to come to a standstill at least two hours before that, police said. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to take stage around 2pm.

Rally ends: Around 4pm. Congestion likely to be up to 5pm, according to the police.

Last year, major thoroughfares were cleared within an hour of the end of the rally. This time, the cops are not so sure. “The footfall is expected to go up. In that case, it might take longer for the major roads to be free for traffic,” said an officer.

Traffic curbs

Vehicle movement on the following roads will be regulated between 4am and 9pm on Sunday

• Amherst Street
• Bidhan Sarani (between KC Sen Street and Vivekananda Road)
• College Street
• Brabourne Road
• Strand Road
• BB Ganguly Street
• Bentinck Street
• New CIT Road
• Rabindra Sarani (from BK Pal Avenue to Lalbazar Street)

No parking

No vehicle will be allowed to be parked in and around the Victoria Memorial, including the stretch of AJC Bose
Road between the Hastings crossing and Cathedral Road, Hospital Road, Queensway, Lovers Lane and Casuarina Avenue.

Cop advice

A senior officer in the traffic department of Kolkata police said it was advisable to avoid roads through which rallyists are scheduled to proceed. “The idea is to keep traffic moving on roads through which rallyists are not scheduled to move,” said an assistant commissioner.

Rally route

Trinamool supporters headed for the venue will move through the following stretches from around 7.30-8am

• Sealdah station, AJC Bose Road, SN Banerjee Road, Dorina crossing, JL Nehru Road, Bentinck Street
• Shyambazar five-point, Bhupen Bose Avenue, Bidhan Sarani, College Street, Nirmal Chunder Street, Ganesh Chandra Avenue, Central Avenue
• Howrah Bridge, Strand Road, Brabourne Road, New CIT Road, Lalbazar Street, Bentinck Street
• Geetanjali stadium in Kasba, Rashbehari connector, Hazra crossing, SP Mukherjee Road, Ashutosh Mukherjee Road, JL Nehru Road, Bentinck Street

Park Street

The customary Sunday lunch at Park Street will still be possible if you manage to reach Park Street. The restaurants are going to remain open.

“We will be functioning as usual. The Sunday afternoon jazz session will also very much be there,” said Anand Puri, the owner of Trincas. Bar-B-Q will also be open, said owner Rajiv Kothari. “We hope that traffic will be moving, since it is a Sunday. We hope we will have guests,” he added.

But the challenge will be driving to Park Street and finding a space to park your car.

“Park Street will be open to vehicular traffic. But the roads leading to Park Street are expected to be choked because of vehicles and people headed to the rally. The parking slots in and around Park Street are also expected to be full well before afternoon,” said a traffic police officer.

Weather

The sky is likely to be cloudy and sunny in phases, said a Met official. The humidity quotient is likely to be on the higher side. “One or two spells of rain is likely. It can happen any time of the day,” he added.

Transport

Availing public transport will be a challenge on Sunday. A majority of the buses are already off roads for ferrying people from the districts to Calcutta for the rally. The number of private and state buses will be considerably lower than usual on Sunday, said an official of the transport department.

The number of yellow taxis will be miniscule. App cabs should be available but brace yourself for a steep surge. Some autos should be available in the morning. But after 10am, autos on several routes will be off.

Metro

Additional ticket counters will be operational at different Metro stations, the carrier said. At Esplanade, six additional counters will be opened. At Park Street, Rabindra Sadan, Kalighat, Jatin Das Park, Netaji Bhawan, Dumdum and Baranagar, two additional counters will remain open. At Dakshineswar, three additional counters will remain open.

The carrier will run the usual Sunday fleet of 130 services on the north-south corridor (Blue Line). All other corridors will be shut, as they are on Sundays.