Singur, Sept. 14: The traffic nightmare on Durgapur Expressway today was a near-repeat of the daily snarl caused by Mamata Banerjee's 16-day siege at the site in August 2008.

Today's rally, organised to celebrate the Supreme Court order to return to farmers the land acquired for the Tata Nano factory, led to a line-up of vehicles that stretched several kilometres.

A two-tier stage erected on the Durgapur-bound flank of the expressway resulted in traffic being diverted to the lane meant for vehicles to Calcutta.

Although police had decided to allow normal movement till 11am today, Calcutta-bound traffic had come to a standstill by 9am while those going to Durgapur moved at a snail's pace.

Delhi Road, which runs parallel to Durgapur Expressway, also felt the ripples as goods vehicles were diverted to it.

"It did not work out. No matter how much you plan, these things cannot be executed smoothly," said a Hooghly police officer.

When the rally started at 4pm, things worsened.

Sources said a bus that left Esplanade at 4.30pm and was scheduled to arrive at Asansol, 200km away, at 8pm, reached its destination around 11.30.

Most commuters from Durgapur, who usually take the road to come to Calcutta, said they preferred trains today.

Mamata, who had in 2008 refused to budge from the highway flank for 16 days in protest against the forcible acquisition of land, offered a reason for choosing the road for today's event.

"We had to do it here because of snakes, venomous snakes (in the abandoned project area).... But we tried to leave enough room for the movement of traffic," she said.

Stopping her speech at one point, she pleaded with the crowd to allow an ambulance to pass.

"Please make way for the ambulance. We have to make such adjustments for these things, my dear brothers and sisters.... Does that ambulance have a patient? Please ask it to turn off the siren.... Slowly and steadily, let it pass, please," she said as the ambulance threaded its way through the people.

Till late this evening, only the Calcutta-bound flank of Durgapur Expressway was available for traffic movement.

A police officer said: "Such an event on a road on which around 30,000 vehicles ply every day was bound to cause major disruptions."

A trader returning home to Burdwan around 8.30pm said his car took almost an hour to cross a 100-metre stretch in Singur.

"Between Dankuni and Singur, it was a nightmare around 8.30pm.... A 100-metre stretch near the rally venue took me an hour to cross," the trader said.