Rain, labour unions' rally choke traffic on Surat roads

Surat: It turned out to be a chaotic day in the Diamond City for thousands of commuters, who were stranded on Sardar Bridge and Swami Vivekananda Bridge, Athwagate junction and Nanpura due to rains and a rally by trade unions on Friday.

Around 10 lakh vehicles, including two and four-wheelers, from Adajan, Pal, Rander and Jehangirpura pass from Sardar Bridge alone during peak hours. On the bridges connecting Adajan with Athwalines and Nanpura, the commuters were stuck in the jam for more than one hour. There was no sign of traffic brigade personnel and the cops to control the traffic situation as they were busy at the protest rally taken out by the trade unions. At most of the points, including the one at Adajan, people from nearby housing societies came out voluntarily to manage the traffic at the crossroads. The situation was out of control at Athwagate junction as traffic cops were running helter-skelter to manage the traffic.

"I had not expected such a situation. I take Sardar Bridge daily to reach Man Darwaja. I was stuck in traffic for more than one-and-a-half hour," yarn dealer Rakesh Pandya said.

Shailesh Prajapati, a resident of Pal, said, "Usually, the traffic brigade personnel are deployed on Sardar Bridge to manage traffic. There were no cops on Friday. It took more than an hour for me to cross the one-kilometre bridge in heavy traffic."

Nehal Shah, a goldsmith who resides in Adajan, said, "Seeing the heavy traffic on Sardar Bridge, I decided to drive from Swami Vivekananda Bridge. There too, the traffic situation was worse. The entire bridge was jam-packed, with little space to move. It took over half an hour for me to cross the bridge."

A traffic cop, who was deployed at Makkai Pool in Nanpura, said, "The traffic island at Makkai Pool is narrow, so the vehicle movement became slow in the traffic jam situation. To top it all, the trade unions were protesting on Makkai Pool creating more trouble for the commuters."