Chaos on Mohali roads amid protest, roadways staff strike

As hundreds of activists demanding the release of Bandi Singhs staged a protest to mark two years of the beginning of their stir, commutters had a tough time.

A scuffles broke out between the police and the protesters, who tried to march towards the Punjab Chief Minsiter’s residence. Police officials said, “We foiled all their plans by taking all the crowd pullers in preventive custody a day before after their leaders did not engage in negotiations for the past five days.”

Unsuspecting commuters were met with swarms of cops from Mohali and nearby districts, barricades, police vehicles, dumper trucks, fire engines and cold stares.

What followed was the mad rush among the road users to wiggle out of the increasing chaos on roads as clock struck 9 am. Sneha Mahajan, a private school teacher in Sector 78, said, “I spent Rs 100 extra for an auto due to detours and reached school an hour late.” Despite the gloom, hundreds of protesters were out on road as they renewed their vows on the second anniversary of their protest.

All major entry and exit points from Mohali towards Chandigarh were fortified with barricades and police personnel. Three main roads, Jail Road, Sector 51-52, Sector 52-53, leading to Chandigarh from Mohali were barricaded completely, leaving the tricity residents and commuters stranded.

“Inner roads of Mohali were choked since morning and commuters looked for alternatives routes. At some places, the police were seen managing the traffic at 9 am but it was bad day to be out on the road,” explained BN Kaushal, a Sector-53 resident.

Making matters worse, the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS contractual workers continued their strike, further crippling the commuter services.

Seeking regularisation and pay parity, the workers had begun a three-day strike on Monday.

By the evening, however, they had called off their strike after receiving assurances of their demands being heard from transport department officials, offering a slight respite to commuters.