CUTTACK: With a large number of people thronging the Millennium City to witness Baliyatra, lack of space at the parking places crippled traffic on the connecting roads and the entrance points of the fairground on Sunday.
As it was a holiday, more than four lakh people visited the fair and the situation went out of control when the crowd started swelling after 6 pm.
All the 10 parking places, designated by the Commissionerate Police at Bhuasuni field, near Anand Bhawan, Dayashram, left and western sides of Kartikeshwar Gada field, near Mundasahi, Gorakabar and BOSE field near the venue were filled with vehicles.
Due to unavailability of space at the parking places, people seen were seen stranded for hours to get their vehicles parked resulting in a traffic jam on the roads connecting the venue.
The situation became so chaotic that even ambulances had to face difficulties while passing through the area.
The Commissionerate police took to Twitter to inform the people about the unavailability of parking space in the city. “There is no further parking space anywhere in Cuttack for people visiting Bali Jatra.
We are unable to let any more vehicles in today. Inconvenience is regretted. We will allow more vehicles as & when some space is available,” tweeted the Commissionerate Police.
“The city witnessed a huge crowd resulting in parking space constraint for about one hour. The situation improved after gates of some schools in the adjacent locality were opened to accommodate the vehicles,” said DCP Akhilesvar Singh.