Vehicles moving towards Shyambazar and Park Street will be directed down a single lane at the Metro Channel in the heart of the city from Friday, when chief minister Mamata Banerjee begins her sit-in demonstration, police said.

The Trinamool chief will lead the protest against the alleged arbitrary deletion of names from the voters’ list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.

The demonstration at the Metro Channel is scheduled to begin at 2pm on Friday, and a dais has been built at the same spot where Mamata observed a 26-day hunger strike in 2006, protesting alleged forcible land acquisition for the car factory at Singur.

“At Metro Channel, the two lanes meant for vehicles headed towards Park Street from Esplanade will be split. One of the lanes will be used for Shyambazar-bound vehicles and the other for those headed south,” a senior police officer said.

“The two lanes, meant for vehicles headed towards Central Avenue, at the Channel will be shut to traffic movements.”

Several officers said that while a traffic diversion plan has been made, no decision has been made about the timing of its implementation on Friday.

“Officers have been instructed to monitor the flow of traffic. Instructions about the timing of traffic diversion will be reaching from the police headquarters in Lalbazar,” the officer said.

Several officers said that according to the diversion plan, if the tail-up of
vehicles starts growing during the peak traffic hours, all vehicles headed towards Park Street and further
south will be diverted from the BB Ganguly Street and Central Avenue crossing towards Lalbazar and then made to move down Old Court House Street towards Red
Road.

“If the Shyambazar-bound vehicles are found to be moving very slowly, some of them will be diverted down from Park Street towards Mayo Road and Esplanade Row East,” the officer added.

“Some diversions will be made as and when required,” he said.