The police had the inputs about other protests happening in the city, but it chose to ignore them which ultimately resulted in massive jams in central and north Delhi.
In an incident in central Delhi, the 'Halla Bol' brigade of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to the streets at Turkman Gate, Jama Masjid, IP Estate and outer Ring Road near Nigambodh Ghat, to protest against the Delhi government. As a result the areas of ITO, Rajghat, Geeta Colony witnessed massive jams for several hours with long queues of cars stuck on the road.
A roving reporter did not find even a single traffic personnel in these areas to control the traffic. The situation turned worse when the traffic, stuck for a long time, started moving in the wrong direction.
In a similar incident in the Karkardooma area of east Delhi, Sikhs protesting at the Staff Selection Commission's Office, led to a massive jam. They were protesting against the Commission's decision to bar a Sikh from appearing in the examination as he was wearing a 'kada' (metal bangle worn by Sikhs as a religious symbol). As the Sikhs surrounded the Commission's office, the officers inside had a harrowing time, as very few police personnel were present to control the crowd.
These incidents were happening in various parts of Delhi at the same time when the police were trying to stop the JNU students' march to Parliament. The protest resulted in massive traffic snarls in central Delhi leading to jams at various locations. The situation became so bad that Delhi metro closed operations at Udyog Bhavan, Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat metro stations, though temporarily.
Due to poor planning, Delhi police could control neither the JNU crowd nor the protests elsewhere, making it a worst day for commuters.
(Sanjeev Kumar Singh Chauhan can be contacted at sanjeev.c@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )