From Saurav Borah
TURA, Feb 15: On other days, traffic jams are normally seen in a few pockets of this town, such as Arai Mile or the junction at Tura Civil Hospital, that too during specific peak hours.
On Wednesday afternoon, the ‘epicentre’ of the congestion was at Hawakhana petrol pump as members and supporters of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) assembled for a couple of hours before the start of a padyatra led by the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to garner support for the party.
The “show of strength” by the AITC, 12 days ahead of voting day, might have got the supporters of the party, a new entrant to Meghalaya, dancing to the tunes of the party song, amplified through loudspeakers, but the commuters who were returning from offices or going to the markets, were affected for a couple of hours at least.
For that matter, traffic along the stretch from Hawakhana, Babupara to Tura Bazar came to a standstill for some time with private, commercial vehicles hit, with a few even taking a detour.
“My auto rickshaw was full of passengers but all of them got down before reaching Babupara owing to the traffic jam. They were bound for Tura Bazar but chose to walk their way to their destination. So I lost half my fare,” rued Kabin Marak.
Marak was not alone. There were many other auto-rickshaws stranded due to the jam.
Worse still, a few ambulances were also affected.
“Thankfully, there are no patients in my ambulance now. Else, it would have triggered more worries,” said a tad panicky driver of an ambulance of Tura Civil Hospital, before taking a detour.
Not just vehicles, several business establishments and shops on the stretch were also affected. Many shopkeepers had enough time to come out of their shops and watch the padyatra as there were no customers for some time. “Such election road shows only cause traffic snarls. I believe they can be held at playgrounds or venues where people, primarily commuters, are not affected,” said Dipak Malik, a stationery shop owner at Babupara.
At Tura Bazar, where the election procession culminated and a public meeting addressed by the Trinamool Congress leader, many shops were open but with no customers.