Kolkata Grinds to a Halt as DA Protesters Block Major Roads
Kolkata witnessed severe traffic chaos on Thursday as a large-scale protest by state government employees demanding due dearness allowance (DA) brought the city's heart to a standstill. The demonstration, organized under the banner of Sangrami Joutha Mancha, aimed to march to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence at Kalighat but was stopped by police at Esplanade, where protesters squatted on the road for over two hours.
Traffic Collapse and Emergency Vehicle Stranding
The protest led to a complete breakdown of traffic around Esplanade, with key arteries like S N Banerjee Road, Chowringhee Road, and Dufferin Road barricaded by authorities. Ambulances carrying vulnerable patients, including infants, were among the vehicles trapped in the gridlock for extended periods. One-month-old Bidhan Maity, who had visited Medical College Hospital for a congenital heart check-up, was stranded on S N Banerjee Road while returning home to Panchla with his parents.
"It's been over an hour since our ambulance is stuck, and we don't know when we will reach home," lamented the infant's father, Amal Maity. "We came to the hospital in the morning and queued up for his check-up. We did not anticipate such an ordeal on our return. Stuck for so long, my baby got exhausted from weeping."
Multiple Patients Affected by the Protest
Another young patient, Azikin Khan, aged just a month and a half from Keshpur in West Midnapore, faced similar distress after undergoing stomach surgery at NRS Medical College. "The road ahead was closed with guard rails, and the ambulance driver tried for passage but to no avail," said the child's father, Yasin Khan. "Doctors advised us to protect the child from exhaustion, but moving out of the hospital, the traffic snarls caused significant inconvenience to him."
Commuters and Long-Distance Travelers Disrupted
The protest also severely impacted commuters, particularly those heading to catch long-distance trains. Many were forced to abandon vehicles and walk with luggage in search of alternative transport to railway stations. Beliaghata residents Amit Kundu and his wife Rupali, en route to Howrah to catch a train for Jamshedpur, were stuck at Moulali crossing.
"After waiting in the cab for an hour, we got down and marched till Gostho Pal Sarani near Eden Gardens and took a yellow taxi to reach the station," Kundu recounted.
Police Response and Traffic Management Challenges
Traffic police reported that the disruptions began around noon and persisted well past 5 PM, exacerbated by twin protests from Left- and BJP-backed unions. "The protesters moved out after 4 PM, and it took 45 minutes just to get vehicles moving; the effects were felt for another hour," stated an officer.
Approximately 1,000 DA protesters squatted between Dorina crossing and Lenin Sarani, with student protesters later blocking College Street. The peak school traffic hours between 1 PM and 3 PM compounded the chaos, slowing even Exide crossing and cutting off east-west (Howrah–Sealdah) and north-south routes, except for the Bowbazar–BB Ganguly Street–Dalhousie link.
"We usually divert via Moulali but failed to do so on Thursday as even AJC Bose Road choked," explained another traffic cop. "S N Banerjee vehicles had to be diverted via GC Avenue. However, the biggest setback was protesters stopping vehicles at Lenin Sarani crossing, which severed CR Avenue from JL Nehru Road."
The protest highlights growing tensions over dearness allowance demands among state employees, with significant repercussions for public mobility and emergency services in Kolkata.
