Telugu Desam meeting hits Vijayawada traffic

Vijayawada: The state government’s Navanirmana Deeksha again organised in the city’s busiest Benz Circle totally disrupted traffic movement on Thursday.
Though the state government faced criticism by conducting the meeting at the same venue last year, but again it followed the same practice without considering the inconvenience to the public.  

The traffic was not allowed from 4 am to 1 pm on Thursday for the meeting. Heavy vehicles on Chennai-Howrah route faced major hardships along with local traffic diversion in the city. Actually, several grounds are available in the city to organise the meeting as an alternative venue.

Moreover, a meagre crowd only took part in the programme. The state government selected the venue by taking into consideration the previous agitations against the state bifurcation held in the same centre. The government wanted to recall the agitations against the state bifurcation.

But whatever the reasons, thousands of heavy vehicles on the National Highway stretch were diverted forcibly. Similarly, several city buses, especially those passing Benz Circle, were also diverted to other roads.

Passengers were confused by not being aware of the new routes and they totally depended upon auto services. One RTC conductor said that they could not follow bus timings schedule due to traffic diversions and traffic jams in various centres.

A Rammohna Rao, a passenger, said that the government should not organise or allow any meetings further on roads. He said that the meetings would create hurdles and finally it leads to mpublic wrath. Then what is the use of conducting meetings on streets, he added.

Meanwhile, CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna said that there was no use of holdikng the meeting at Benz Circle except for traffic jams on the city roads. He said that the people in the city faced inconvenience due to traffic jams. He said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders should fight for protecting state interests on various platforms.

APCC spokesperson Kolanukonda Sivaji said that the government violated norms by conducting meeting on the NH. National Highway by stopping vehicles. He said that though the government is not allowing the opposition parties to conduct meetings or protests anywhere in the city, it should fight with PM Narendra Modi for special status instead of Deekshas.