Amritsar, April 25

During visit of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for poll campaign of AAP candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, the public was inconvenienced by traffic jams on roads around Bhandari Bridge. The police had barricaded all routes from which the CM's convey was to pass. Bhandari Bridge was barricaded for a few hours before Mann's visit.

As residents were not aware about alternative routes, they got stuck in long queues of vehicles mainly on roads leading to Bhandari Bridge. Besides, the traffic movement was restricted on several roads in the walled city including Hall Bazar. This increased the traffic burden on alternative routes. Vehicles were seen moving at a snail's pace on inner city roads. The vehicles of AAP workers were parked near Bhandari Bridge.

"It took half hour to travel from Hathi Gate to Hall Gate on the outer ring road of the walled city. The police failed to manage the traffic during the CM's visit. There was no alternative route plan after restricting the traffic movement at Bhandari Bridge. The VIP movement for elections campaign should be properly managed so that residents do not suffer," said Manjit Singh, a commuter stuck in a traffic jam in the Hall Gate area.