Traffic jam on Janpath at Kharvela Nagar because of the BSP rally in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 7: A road safety week organised by the city traffic police turned chaotic today as a rally by the Bahujan Samaj Party led to people getting late for work, missing appointments and losing clients.

Commuters took the beating while travelling between Ram Mandir Square and Master Canteen Square because of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rally, which paralysed traffic on this stretch for more than two-and-half hours.

Ravi Ranjan Mishra, a marketing executive with a private bank here, said the rally caused him financial as well as moral loss because a customer, with whom he had an appointment, refused to answer his calls because of the delay.

“I was travelling from Vani Vihar. When I crossed Sriya Complex Square, I found the stretch ahead was fully blocked with vehicles stranded on the road. I could not even turn back to take another route, as many vehicles were already behind me. When I crossed Master Canteen Square, I was almost an hour late and lost a potential customer,” said Mishra, who sells credit cards of the Jharapada bank.

The rally was part of the BSP’s Bahujan Samaj Prachar Yatra, a 33-day programme of that began on December 6 last year and culminated at MG Road today.

Around 5,000 BSP activists went to MG Road in a rally from Ram Mandir Square with placards in their hands. They blocked the service roads near Master Canteen creating traffic chaos.

Many people who got stuck in the chaos complained about the inadequate arrangements made by the police to handle such rallies. They suggested that the city authorities should think about an alternative route to Master Canteen Square, as most of the time this square is blocked by protesters and rallyists.

“Before giving permission to hold such rallies, the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police officials should inform the public about the route and timings of the rally or divert the traffic through another route. Most of these rallies are held during peak hours when we go to our offices. As a result, we become victims of police inefficiency,” said Subhendu Mohan Naik, a teacher residing in Satya Nagar.

However, the cops said the organisers had taken permission to take out the rally from Master Canteen Square to MG Road, but the rally began from Ram Mandir Square. “Policemen were present there and were arranging for the smooth passage of vehicles,” said a senior police officer.