Red Marches hold Thiruvananthapuram under siege

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The mass demonstration taken out on Friday as part of the valedictory of the CPM State conference threw traffic haywire in the city. Hapless passengers had to walk for long distances to catch buses to their destinations. The absence of autorickshaws made the situation worse. The unexpected downpour delayed the start of the ‘Red volunteer marches’ from Manjalikulam and Manaveeyam Road to Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, the main venue. The marches, earlier scheduled to begin at 3 pm, started only by 3.30 pm from both the locations.Long-distance buses and heavy vehicles were diverted to alternative routes from noon. City buses and small vehicles plied on one side of both the march routes till 4 pm. The Red volunteer marches concluded at the meeting venue at 6 pm, followed by the first batch of the mass rally.While vehicular traffic was completely blocked on the main roads by 4 pm, the alternative paths and byroads witnessed heavy traffic snarls. Around 250 police personnel were deployed in the city to control the traffic.The mass rallies were taken out from five locations, including Chackai, Music College Junction, Vellayambalam, Overbridge and Kuravankonam. While several schools in the city had announced a holiday, some schools functioned till noon. Attendance was very low in most of the government offices in the afternoon as the employees had left before the march began.As only a few autorickshaws were available, many of those who reached the Central Railway Station had to walk to various locations in the city.Heavy rush was witnessed at the KSRTC bus stations. KSRTC long-distance buses arriving and leaving took diverted routes which were several kilometres longer, putting the passengers in great difficulty. The buses that arrived in the city through the MC Road were diverted from Mannanthala and took the Kudappanakkunnu, Peroorkada, Sasthamangalam, Vazhuthacaud, Thycaud route.Those that left the city reached Mannanthala via Thycaud, Vazhuthacaud, Vellayamabalam, Peroorkada, Kudappanakkunnu and Mukkola. KSRTC officials said no services were cancelled on the day. The demonstration also affected the 108 ambulance service. "We told all callers that the service would be a bit late owing to the traffic congestion,’’ said a staff member. "Since road accidents were low, there wasn’t much problem,’’ he added.