Teachers protest chokes highway for 5 hrs

Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 30

A massive traffic jam was witnessed on the Chandigarh-Kharar highway after protesting elementary teachers training (ETT) teachers blocked the elevated road at Desumajra in Kharar for about five hours. The highway remained choked with queues of vehicles on both sides of the road in the peak rush hours during the evening.

The traffic chaos spilled on to the Kharar-Landran road, Mohali-Kharar road as commuters took alternative routes.

Kharar DSP Gurcharan Singh said, “Owing to the ongoing protest of the EET teachers, normal movement of vehicles was affected for close to five hours.”

“Commuters were harassed due to the teachers’ protest during the rush hours today. Office-goers, patients and the underprivileged were inconvenienced. The livelihood of auto-rickshaw drivers, traders and shopkeepers was severely affected,” said Kuldeep Singh, an Anandpur Sahib-bound bus passenger.

Gurdeep Kalra, who works as a nurse in a private hospital of Mohali, said, “Those who do not have their own conveyance had nowhere to go. They were stranded on the road. We understand their hardships but the protesters must also understand our compulsions.”