Slum dwellers stage demonstration on Janpath, demanding house under the Rajiv Awas Yojana on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24: Commuters suffered as slum dwellers today blocked Janpath near Master Canteen Square during peak hours creating a traffic jam.

Vehicles coming from Ram Mandir Square were forced to halt in front of a private hotel, while those coming from Master Canteen Square were not allowed to go ahead as the protesters blocked the stretch demanding that all of them be covered under the Rajiv Awas Yojana. The protest began around 10.30am and continued till 12 noon.

Around 500 slum dwellers, including women from various parts of the city, under the aegis of the Rajiv Gandhi Astahi Basti Vikash Parishad sat on both sides of Janpath holding placards and shouted slogans against the government. Police were taken by surprise as the decision was taken suddenly.

“I was unaware of the roadblock and coming from Saheed Nagar. After crossing Sriya Square, I came across the protesters. There were no way to turn the car and go back,” said Anurag Sahu, a private company employee.

Those who tried to take the lanes through Kharavela Nagar choked all paths creating traffic congestion. The police officials could not remove the protesters from there.

As the slum dwellers were seated at a strategic spot on Janpath, commuters could not take any alternate routes. They forcibly stop many two-wheelers from taking lanes through Kharavela Nagar. Even quite a few ambulances were seen stranded in the traffic mess.

“There was no policeman at Master Canteen Square. When we tried to take diversions, the protesters forcibly stopped us,” said Rudra Satpathy, a resident of Bapuji Nagar.

Later, senior police officers, including assistant commissioner of police P.K. Pattnaik, convinced the protesters assuring them of organising a meeting with the concerned authorities. The protesters marched towards Mahatma Gandhi Marg in a rally then and held protest there.

A delegation of the protesters met with housing and urban development department minister and discussed about their demands following which the protest ended.

“We discussed about various problems of the slum dwellers in the city. Besides, we raised concern about them who were not included in the yojana in Bhubaneswar. We wanted the government to hold a fresh survey to identify all of them,” said chief adviser to the parishad Subhendu Mohanty.

He said the minister had assured them of looking into the matter and again holding discussions with them on September 30.