BJP rally brings Thiruvananthapuram to a standstill
The strength of the force only to regulate the city centre were around 350.
Thiruvananthapuram: When BJP national leader Amit Shah visited the Ayyankali statue at Vellayambalam Junction on Saturday morning, it caused traffic jams even in places away from the city centre. Tirumala Junction, a traffic bottleneck even on a normal day, was clogged more than before. A train of vehicles almost a kilometre-long stretched from there. It was so even around noon, by which time the event at Vellayambalam was over. Police say that the traffic jam in the city became worse because of the bike rally that accompanied Mr Shah’s vehicle. There were hundreds of bikes which slowed the traffic, according to the police.
They say the traffic was not stopped on the route from Airport-All Saints-Chackai-Pettah-Asan Square-World War Memorial-R R Lamp-Vellayamb-alam-Althara-Vazhutha-caud-Thampanoor. “Police persons were deployed at the roads that intersect this main road, to stop traffic for five minutes. Because of the road show, the traffic had to be stopped for longer. But it would not have gone beyond seven minutes,” they say. As for the outer areas, there were not enough traffic police personnel manning the usual traffic bottlenecks, as many had to be deployed in the city centre. Policemen working in various stations were also deployed. The strength of the force only to regulate the city centre were around 350. The rains further worsened the blocks.
