BHUBANESWAR: The ongoing festivities and revelry on Saturday brought a major part of the capital city to a complete standstill with massive traffic jams witnessed across the busy thoroughfares, taking a heavy toll on commuters.
A heavy rush was reported at Janpath, Ram Mandir, Nicco Park, CRP Square, Jaydev Vihar, Patia and other areas in the evening, leaving the citizens stuck on the roads for hours.
“It took me over an hour to reach CRP Square from Ram Mandir in the evening. The massive volume of traffic with hardly any arrangements by Traffic police left the commuters exhausted,” said a citizen Akhay Das.
The traffic moved at a snail’s pace throughout the day. It seemed the traffic was moving on its own with no police personnel around to manage it, said another citizen.
Many citizens also took to X to highlight their plight after getting stuck in the massive traffic jams. “Inviting Indian diaspora to witness the celebration of traffic chaos in Bhubaneswar. Choked-slammed-jammed,” quipped an X user. While another user said the traffic management in the city in the last seven days was the worst Bhubaneswar has seen.
Police attributed the unprecedented rush to the annual state-level flower exhibition at Ekamra Kanan Botanical Garden and Adivasi Mela organised at the IDCO Exhibition Ground.
On the other hand, sources said adequate parking arrangements were not made at Ekamra Kanan and the illegal parking choked the entire stretch and the road connecting it.
“There is a plan to procure more than 20 motorcycles soon and engage traffic personnel at the major stretches to clear the traffic jams immediately,” said a senior police officer.