Long routes to reach destination, traffic snarls irk commuters in Amritsar

Amritsar, September 26

Despite traffic management plan keeping in view the visit of dignitaries for attending the Northern Zonal Council’s meeting, commuters complained of traffic hassles here today. They were irked over taking long routes and getting stranded in traffic jams for hours together before reaching their destination.

The impact was more perceptible in areas where there was movement of dignitaries. For instance on the Circular road, the venue of the Northern Zonal Council meeting and on routes to the Golden temple and Gobindgarh Fort.

A city resident Lalit Sachdeva said he had to wait for one hour before the opening of the barricade for traffic on the Circular road. Sachdeva said he had gone for a medical check-up of one of his family members at a nearby clinic. However, it took him hours to commute on a stretch of a road which otherwise takes only 10 minutes.

Another city resident Harpreet Singh said the route from Hall Gate to the Golden Temple was closed throughout the day. He said the police conducted a dry run for the traffic plan. Similar was the situation on roads around Gobindgarh Fort and the bypass road heading from Gumtala Chowk to Fatehgarh Churriyan intersection where VVIP movement was maximum.

The police said the traffic route plan was made public two days in advance to intimate commuters. The police said if residents had commuted on roads as per the given plan, they would not have got stranded in traffic jams for long hours.