THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The traffic jams in the city have worsened towards the year-end as the footfalls of rallies increased. As per experts, whenever a Secretariat rally is longer than 250 metres, the traffic was bound to be affected. Of late, many stretching from Martyr square go well beyond Asan square (260m).
Rubbing salt in the wound was some organisations that do not seek permission or coordinate with police to manage traffic.
“If planned well, a demonstration of even up to one lakh people can be held decently in this city. If planning is poor, a rally involving around 10,000 people is enough to throw things out of gear,” said city police commissioner P. Prakash. Recently, a rally by SDPI had disrupted the city as a large number of people turned up hitting the traffic control. On November 1, police had booked office bearers of Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi for public nuisance after they organised a Secretariat march without informing the police.
Recent rallies by BJP and ABVP claim to have brought in around 50,000 people though police sources estimate the number approximately at 10,000. Recently, the Church of South India (CSI) held a mega rally triggering jams that blocked traffic around the underpass. Before that, VSDP rally had frozen the city. “Everyone knows that the traffic volume has gone up over the years. So, political parties need to observe self-restraint. The concept of peak hour traffic has become irrelevant. Traffic density is high most of the daytime barring between 12 pm-1 pm,” said another officer. Meanwhile, organisers of the recent CSI rally said that it was important for marginalised sections to hold big demonstrations to make their voices heard.
