LUDHIANA: Several major roads of the city were choked, leaving commuters hassled due to the three-day Kisan Mela organized by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science University (Gadvasu), that kicked off on Thursday. The worst affected were Ferozepur Road, Pakhowal Road, Malhar Road, and Deepak Hospital Road, besides a few other routes around PAU and Gadvasu.Traffic moved at a snail’s pace throughout the day on Ferozepur Road, and commuters had a harrowing time travelling on this road, as there was a massive rush of four-wheelers and two-wheelers, resulting in a chaotic situation. The traffic was worst affected from 10am to 1pm, and traffic lights on Pakhowal Road — adjoining Gurdev Nagar and Model Gram — stopped functioning, making the jam much worse.Dipansh Sharma (11), who studies in a private school on Pakhowal Road, said: “My exam got over by 11.30am. I usually reach home from school within 20 minutes. But today, I got stuck in the traffic jam at Pakhowal Road, and it took me about two hours to reach home.”Another commuter, Madhusudan — the owner of an electronic store in Maharaj Nagar, who lives in Pakhowal Road — said: “The distance between my house and the shop is 15 minutes. But today, it took me 45 minutes to reach my store. The traffic lights on Pakhowal Road adjoining Gurdev Nagar and Model Gram were not working, and in the absence of traffic police at the troubled spot, all vehicles got stuck. Then, one bus conductor came out and helped the traffic move.”Businessman Om Prakash claimed that due to the traffic and wrong parking on both sides of the road, a few ambulances got stuck in the jam. Mohit Kumar — a bus passenger travelling to Muktsar — said: “Traffic police should make prior arrangements, or at least deploy more officials to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. Our bus got stuck in the jam for more than an hour.”Some people who got stuck in the jam said the traffic police should issue challans to those who parked their vehicles wrongly. Housewife Ramna Aggarwal said she was passing the area to pick up her kids from Sacred Heart Convent School, but due to the traffic jam, she was not able to reach the school on time.Commuters in adjoining towns too had a tough time, as almost all buses that pass through Ferozepur Road to reach towns like Moga, Muktsar, Ferozepur, and Faridkot got stuck in the jam for hours, and passengers suffered a lot. Though enough traffic cops were deployed outside the campus gates, they failed to manage the chaos, which began at around 9am, and worsened as the day progressed. As some of the commuters broke traffic rules, a chaotic situation prevailed all around. Heated arguments were also witnessed at several places, as drivers were seen blaming each other for the jams.‘AVOID FEROZEPUR ROAD’Traffic cops have appealed to local commuters to avoid Ferozepur Road during the fair. They also maintained that the traffic situation, by and large, was normal. ACP Traffic Gurdev Singh said: “We have been making arrangements for several days to do away with traffic snarls during the Kisan Mela. We have deployed 90 cops at the parking areas on Ferozepur Road and Canal Road — especially at the main diversion area near Verka milk plant and Gurudwara Nanaksar — to reduce traffic hassles. Farmers and others who are visiting the fair and coming from out of town are guests for us. I even urged residents to treat visitors as guests, and avoid using Ferozepur Road during these three days, so that farmers do not face any trouble. We requested residents to use other internal roads to avoid heavy flow of vehicles on this route, and not get stuck in a jam.”

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