Calcutta HC praises city police's traffic control as thousands flock to Trinamool rally venue

Kolkata, July 21 (IANS) The judge of the Calcutta High Court, who imposed restrictions last week on Trinamool Congress’ annual Martyrs’ Day rally, praised the Kolkata Police on Monday for ensuring smooth traffic flow during the busy office hours when thousands of the party supporters were marching towards the rally venue in central Kolkata.

Considering that the period between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. is the pick office hour, the single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Gosh, last week, directed the city police commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma to ensure that the processions towards the rally venue do not impact smooth traffic movement in the city, especially in areas around the rally venue.

On Monday, based on the feedback received from the legal fraternity, Justice Ghosh complimented the Kolkata Police for ensuring the implementation of the order for smooth traffic movement during those two hours.

He observed that the time taken to commute from one spot to another during that period on Monday was the same as on other working days, and hence the city police deserved to be complimented for that.

Last week, Justice Ghosh also suggested that the Trinamool Congress leadership think of an alternative venue for this annual event from next year.

However, despite the smooth traffic movement, the common people faced difficulties because of a shortage of public buses, since many such vehicles had already been booked by Trinamool Congress for their supporters to reach the rally venue.

The pressure on the city metro railways, as a result, was excessive during the office hours on Monday. Even the number of private vehicles on the streets was much lower since many such vehicle owners preferred not to bring their vehicles out of their garages for fear of getting stuck in the traffic congestion.

Trinamool Congress had set up several roadside camps where food is being cooked for the party supporters attending the rally.

--IANS

src/dpb