Ranchi, Sept. 23: Pandal-hoppers may do well to keep aside their fancy footwear and walk out in comfortable pairs of shoes this Puja. Walking for kilometres is on the cards with the district administration issuing a slew of stringent traffic control measures in the capital.

According to the guidelines, the Main Road will be closed to traffic for 12 hours — from 4pm to 4am — from September 24 to 29. Besides, all the 20 designated parking spots will be far from the 24 prominent Pujas.

So, if one is driving from Doranda to Main Road via the overbridge, the vehicle will have to be parked either at Sainik Bazaar or GEL Church Marketing Complex, from where it is a kilometre’s walk to Durgabati and Chandrashekhar Azad Durga Samiti. For a visit to Upper Bazaar, which hosts as many as nine big Pujas, one has to walk 3km more.

The trip won’t be any better for those who plan to drive down to Main Road from Circular Road via Kutchery. They will have to park their vehicles either at Survey Ground or outside the premises of Jharkhand Public Service Commission office and walk 4km to cover all pandals at the Main Road and Upper Bazaar areas.

If pandal-hoppers from Doranda include Kokar Puja in their itinerary after Main Road and Upper Bazaar, they will have to return to GEL Church Complex or Sainik Market, get their vehicles and head for Kokar. Once there, they will have to park either at Kokar Ground or on Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College campus and then walk for 800m.

Superintendent of police (traffic) Kamlesh Kumar said that more than 200 traffic constables would be deputed to implement the plan. “The traffic personnel have been entrusted with the task to ensure that vehicles follow our guidelines. Puja committee volunteers will help,” Kumar said.

Small vehicles coming to Main Road from Piska More will be diverted to Kishoreganj Chowk via Minkashi Cinema and Ranchi Hill. Those driving to Main Road from Kanke will have to park near Judge’s Colony behind Raj Bhavan. Vehicles coming from Booty More will have to find space near CCL headquarters while those from Bariatu will halt at the allocated space near the traffic police station.

This is not all. The district administration has also decided to stop vehicle entry at Plaza Chowk, Mission Chowk and Kishoreganj Chowk. Visitors arriving via rail will not be able to proceed beyond Patel Chowk unless they decide to walk. Commuters going to Piska More from Harmu will find the road blocked if they are choosing the Kathal More route.

Heavy vehicles will find the going tougher. Buses and trucks will not be allowed to enter Ranchi from September 24 to September 29.

These vehicles headed towards Hazaribagh from Piska More will have to take Hazaribagh Road via Kathal Mora and Namkum. Similarly, trucks coming from Hazaribagh will be diverted towards Itki and Lohardaga Road using the same route.