Traffic-jammed!

City headed for severe traffic jams as VVIPs come visiting to canvass

• Priyanka Gandhi, H.D. Deve Gowda to arrive tomorrow
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi also in line to visit Mysuru

Mysore/Mysuru: It’s raining VVIPs in the city as the Assembly election campaign is heating up. While the Police are facing a tough time on both the law and order and traffic management front as the city is being flooded with campaigners who have Z-Plus security and the protocols have to be strictly followed, the common man is facing perpetual traffic jams on the roads.

This morning, commuters on the roads around Lalitha Mahal, Bannur Road, Nanjangud Road, Teresian College Road, Airport Road, Mysore Race Club, Chamundi Hill Road, Nazarbad, Zoo Road, Gopalagowda Shantaveri Hospital Road, surroundings of the City Police Commissioner’s Office Road, Kurubarahalli Circle, MyMUL Road and Dairy Circle had a harrowing time for more than two hours as the roads were choked with vehicles following traffic restrictions for the visit of Union Minister Amit Shah.

Amit Shah is provided multi-layered Z Plus security and he is the second top politician in India to be provided with this scale of security after the Prime Minister. He was to arrive at the Mysore Airport at 9.45 am and from there, he was to travel by road to Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hill.

But the Home Minister’s visit was delayed by over an hour and as a result, the Monday morning peak hour traffic was severely affected. The traffic jams cleared only after 12.30 pm after Amit Shah flew to Gundlupet.

In their enthusiasm to follow protocol, the Police had barricaded Nanjangud Road at 9.30 am and had diverted the traffic. As a result, Airport Road, Nanjangud Road, Bannur Road, APMC Road and surrounding areas were clogged with vehicles. 

As traffic was diverted to nearby roads, the massive traffic jams spilt over to other roads as well like the Gun House Road, Hardinge Circle, and SP Office Road and areas like Jyothinagar, the Jockey Quarters area and Gayatripuram too witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic. To make matters worse, the City Police Commissioner’s Office Road has been shut for pipeline work. Even after the Home Minister’s cavalcade left, the road was closed for over 10 minutes as no vehicle could follow the convoy.

The residents and commuters of the city have to face more such traffic snarls in the coming days as more and more VVIPs are set to arrive in Mysuru to woo voters. Reports said that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will tour parts of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts and campaign for party candidates tomorrow (Apr 25).

Former PM H.D. Devegowda too will arrive in Mysuru tomorrow (Apr 25) to campaign for JD(S) candidates. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a week-long campaign tour of Karnataka starting Apr. 28. The PM’s last-minute push to revive the party’s prospects will comprise a spate of rallies and road shows.

Mysuru city Traffic ACP Parashuramappa told Star of Mysore, “We have deployed sufficient staff to ensure free flow of traffic for all pre-scheduled VIP movements and restrictions due to Special Protection Group (SPG) protectees movement. Sometimes it will be difficult for us to ensure smooth traffic flow during peak hours. But we will try our best to minimise public inconvenience.”