Protesters take over Rani Rashmoni Avenue, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the heart of the city, on Monday afternoon. (Anindya Shankar Ray)

It took as long as 45 minutes to drive the 4km stretch from Sovabazar to Esplanade on Monday afternoon as a string of rallies held traffic to ransom in large parts of the city.

The day of disruptions started with around 5,000 supporters of the Jharkhand Disom Party blocking the entire Rani Rashmoni Avenue from 9.30am.

Before the Disom party cleared the way for traffic, the All India Women’s Revolutionary Organisation started a rally with 1,000-odd activists in audience in the adjacent Metro Channel from 4pm.

Around the same time, CPI(ML) and Trinamul Congress supporters, too, took over the heart of the city. A couple of hours earlier, a Trinamul march snaked its way to Sealdah through APC Road and other key arteries in north Calcutta.

Around 6.30pm, another rally — attended by Aparna Sen, Koushik Sen, Kabir Suman and Medha Patkar — marched from Mayo Road to Esplanade.

The impact: people who had to travel through the city centre suffered till the evening as cars stood bumper to bumper from Bowbazar in the north to Theatre Road in the south.

“It’s horrible. The situation is getting worse by the day. Crossing Esplanade has become a nightmare,” said Monojit Dutta, who had to spend half an hour to travel 1.5km from Bowbazar to Esplanade.

The Trinamul march, protesting the rise in the prices of essential commodities, started from Maniktala market at 2pm and wound its way to Koley Market in Sealdah through Maniktala Main Road and APC Road.

The party supporters allowed vehicles to pass in a single file but the constricted road space resulted in a long queue of vehicles till the Khanna crossing.

“The 5,000-strong protesters held a rally outside Koley market. The rally ended around 5pm but the ripple effect lasted longer,” said a police officer.

Later, another group of Trinamul activists swooped down on Metro Channel to protest the price rise.

In a bid to avoid the snarl on APC Road, south-bound vehicles took CR Avenue, only to get stuck in a bigger snarl. The entire CR Avenue, especially the stretch between Colootolla and Esplanade, was chock-a-block with vehicles because of four rallies in Metro Channel and Rani Rashmoni Avenue.

The Jharkhand Disom Party rally, demanding an end to the torture of tribals by police and others, ended at 4.05pm.

Around that time the 1,000-odd supporters of the All India Revolutionary Women’s Organisation reached Metro Channel. The procession, which started from College Square at 2.45pm, passed through College Street, Nirmal Chandra Street and SN Banerjee Road, stopping traffic on the thoroughfares as well as on link roads.

“Traffic along College Street was diverted through CR Avenue, where there were large queues of vehicles. The chaos was beyond control at the Bowbazar and Colootolla crossings,” said an officer.

As if the two rallies in the heart of the city were not enough, around 100 supporters of the CPI(ML) gathered at the crossing of SN Banerjee Road and JL Nehru Road and shouted slogans, demanding the release of Chhattisgarh-based rights activist Binayak Sen.

Last week, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and railway minister Mamata Banerjee had addressed back-to-back rallies in Metro Channel, throwing traffic out of gear and harassing shoppers before Christmas. An 11-year-old child had pleaded with Banerjee not to hold traffic-stopper rallies through a letter published in The Telegraph.

Things are not going to better on New Year’s eve as rallies are slated for Tuesday and Wednesday.