The Pioneer 09.12.2010
Plan to redesign traffic rotary hits road blockStaff Reporter | Bhopal
Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) efforts to redesign the traffic rotary at the Board Office intersection caused trouble for commuters passing through the area as over a hundred people, followers of Bhimrao Ambedkar, waved placards and laid siege on the area on Wednesday.
Traffic remained disrupted for several hours as the protestors refused to lift the vehicular embargo, sending drivers to look for other ways to reach the MP Nagar area.
The Board Office Square, one of the busiest in the city, which connects MP Nagar to Link road, remained non-operational throughout the day, forcing the traffic police personnel to divert vehicles and adding to the woes of commuters.
The agitators said that they were not opposed to the development of the city, but they questioned the manner in which it was being done.
Alleging that the base structure of the statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar at the square has been weakened due to the hastily conducted redesigning exercise, they asked why members of the community were not taken into confidence or at least informed prior to undertaking the work.
Community leader and ward 56 Corporator Mukesh Gajbhiye said the agitation will continue till the authorities come to the spot and apprise the community about their intentions.
As the protest leaders repeatedly said that the issue had hurt the sentiments of the reserved classes, even officials preferred to look the other way as stringent action against the agitators was sure to add fuel to the protest fires.
Taking account of the increasing traffic load on city's road, the civic body is carrying out a drive to resize rotaries. The motive is to facilitate the free flow of vehicular traffic.
Since several of the rotaries included in the drive have statues of national figures, such activity often invites the ire of various sections.
State Congress SC wing general secretary Vijay Sirwaiya said people were not opposing the development project, but authorities should take care to ensure that sentiments were not hurt by its drives.
