Commuters switch routes, pray for end to chaos outside Jadhavpur University campus

KOLKATA: Traffic congestions triggered by JU protesters on SC Mullick Road have forced commuters to switch to alternative transport routes to avoid the chaos and snarls.
High school student Srestha Biswas, who lives in Ganguly Bagan, has to wait almost two hours every day for her mother to pick her up since the bus route 45B has been diverted. "My tuition teacher in Jadavpur has cancelled my classes indefinitely because the students have been facing commute issues," she said.
Students from neighbouring universities are the among the worst hit.A PhD scholar from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB) just across the road ended up waiting about an hour for her bus to Sealdah before she decided to reroute and take the train.
Another IICB scholar Supratim Sarkar recalled how it took upto 20 minutes on both Thursday and Friday to just pass the two-way crossing from 8B to the other side. "We all suffered a lot over the last few days. Spending half an hour to get through a chaotic crowd only to find that the autos were not plying is a total disruption to normal life," he said.
Raja SC Mullick Road has, over the years, been a recreational hub for snacks and tea. The present ordeal has caught local residents and students off guard as well. Garia resident Sombit Banerjee said: "That road is a disaster zone right now. I often end up there to grab a bite with friends during weekdays because there are hardly any such place in my neighbourhood. Finding yourself stuck there in the angry crowd with no certainty about how or when you will get home is a pain," he said.
Businessman Udyalok Roychowdhury, who stays near Jadavpur telephone exchange, has been taking a detour via Uday Shankar Sarani through Golf Green instead of Raja SC Mullick Road to avoid the volatile stretch along JU. "Family friends who were coming to our house a few days ago were not allowed to take a right turn either at Bengal Lamp or Jadavpur 8B bus stand and had to return to his home in Dhakuria. He later called up to see they had a narrow escape as the situation outside JU had escalated minutes later," said Roychowdhury.
On Thursday, his wife Moon Moon tried to go to South City via Golf Green but got caught in a massive traffic as the Jadavpur PS-bound flank of Prince Anwar Shah Road was chock-a-block as the road in front of JU had been shut due to political agitations.
Avik Ghosh, who works in a pharmaceutical company and lives in Golf Green, is fed up with the snarls around JU. Nearly every day last week, he returned home late. "There's been a tragedy in JU. Now there is 'tamasha' over it. The political protests happen in the evening, around the time people return home. What is the point in making thousands suffer?" he wondered.