Day 2: Shah’s Cavalcade Blocks Traffic Briefly, Curbs Ease Wardha Road Snarls

Nagpur: The convoy of Union home minister Amit Shah passed down Wardha Road around the time traffic police start the trial to decongest the stretch, and ended up causing a bumper-to-bumper jam for some time on Tuesday. The traffic jam later eased, and travel time for commuters on both sides of Wardha Road reduced drastically.
Shah's convoy left from Congress Nagar T-point for the airport via Rahate Colony at around 5.35pm.This VIP movement forced the traffic department to stop traffic at many locations, including Rahate Colony Square.
After the convoy passed, the traffic department put up the barricades at Rahate Colony and Kriplani Square. But in this period, a huge traffic jam developed on both sides of Wardha Road. Bumper-to-bumper traffic was seen stretching long on the Gowari Flyover, even with the signals on blinker mode. After some time, however, the traffic situation eased on Wardha Road.
"I was stuck in the traffic for around 15 minutes on Gowari Flyover before vehicles started moving. Cars were lined up till Kriplani Square. This happened even when the traffic department implemented measures to decongest Wardha Road," said one of the motorists.
Another motorist, who passed Wardha Road at around 6.30pm, however, hailed the traffic department for managing to decongest Wardha Road and reducing travel time.
DCP Traffic Archit Chandak said that their measures are working, as the travel time has reduced drastically. "Many motorists are happy that traffic jams are not happening on Wardha Road. We are also thinking about some other measures," said DCP Chandak.
Meanwhile, many motorists avoided Wardha Road and chose to use the internal roads, which led to bumper-to-bumper traffic from Kachipura to Deekshabhoomi Square.
Interestingly, Ajni Square, which had witnessed a traffic jam on Monday, did not see any congestion on Tuesday. However, there were some jams at Lokmat Square, but the traffic kept moving.
Nikhil Shahu, a 22-year-old coconut vendor at Lokmat Square, said, "Since morning, there's been a massive influx of traffic turning right from Dhantoli Road. People trying to take right turns are honking constantly, making the noise levels much higher than usual."
The traffic department recently banned right turns, U-turns, and crossing of Wardha Road from Rahate Colony and Kriplani Square between 5.30pm to 8.30pm from September 23 to 28 on trial basis to decongest the busy stretch.
Ganesh Asathi, a 56-year-old HR head, expressed concern over the impact of the new traffic measures and said, "I've been waiting for my bus at Lokmat Square for over an hour. I've noticed that ambulances are having difficulty navigating the area due to the high concentration of hospitals here. The new traffic regulations seem to be causing some problems."