Traffic cops on poll duty, commuters harassed

Gaurav Kanthwal

Zirakpur, February 19

With the traffic police personnel deployed on election duties, serpentine queues of vehicles were witnessed on the stretch from McDonald’s Chowk in Zirakpur to Chandigarh border since morning.

Traffic moved at snail’s pace as several intersections on the stretch were clogged with haphazard vehicles and cops were nowhere in sight. Officials said only five traffic police personnel, including in-charge, were available for duty while the rest were on poll duty. Eyewitnesses said Patiala Chowk, the McDonald’s point, Singhpura Chowk remained clogged for most part of the day, resulting in traffic bottlenecks.

“Traffic jams are an everyday affair, but today was worst. All intersections were chaotic with nobody following the rules. Traffic cops were nowhere to be seen,” said Gurpreet Saini, a Dera Bassi resident, who travels to Sector 32 daily.

As soon as the main roads were full, motorists turned to inner stretches. Heavy traffic was seen on Old Panchkula Road, Gazipur Road, Singhpura Road and Baltana to Chandigarh road.

“AT most chowks in Zirakpur, traffic is primarily controlled manually due to excessive rush. In such circumstances, leaving light points by cops makes it a tricky situation. Ironically, it is the common man on roads, who faces inconvenience,” said Veena Sachdeva, a private school teacher in Zirakpur.