Kolkata groans under rally tally: 22 on Sunday, 12 on Monday, 8 more today – Times of India

KOLKATA: Thirty-four rallies in the past 48 hours; another eight lined up on Tuesday.
Even as the political sphere heats up following the arrest of former cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee and the recovery of Rs 50 crore from Arpita Mukherjee, and the arrest of three Jharkhand MLAs with Rs 50 lakh cash, Kolkata Police is facing an uphill task to keep the city moving normally.
Cops on the ground stated that they handled 22 protests and rallies on Sunday alone. “On Monday, the first working day, almost all major political action took place between Shyambazar in the north to Esplanade in the heart of the city. None of these protests were that big save a couple of them, and barely involved 50-100 men. But in a busy city, even a 10-20-minute delay leaves a lasting impact on traffic for the next half an hour,” said a traffic department officer.
On Monday, multiple roads remained shut early in the morning due to the Independence Day parade rehearsals. This included Red Road, Hospital Road, KP Road, Kingsway, Queensway, Lover’s Lane and Casuarina Avenue.
The Kolkata Traffic Police began sending regular updates on protests and rallies from the morning itself barely a few hours later. “Due to a gathering, traffic is affected on Howrah bridge,” the cop message read around 10 am. “Due to a programme the southern part of RR Avenue is closed to traffic,” the cops tweeted around noon. It took another hour before it could be reopened.
The Special Branch sources claim they are working overtime trying to ensure that there is enough input on these small gatherings. “Bigger rallies block the roads longer, but information flow is easier. Smaller rallies and protests are more difficult to predict,” said one of them.
Traffic cops said with several festivals and religious events lined up in August — also the time when puja shopping begins — the challenge is greater. “Besides Independence Day preparations, we have to carry out various pre-puja preparations at this point of time,” said an officer.
“While protests are necessary and an important democratic right, it should be used in a manner that the protesters think about common people, too,” said Satya Banerjee, an IT professor who was once a student leader himself.