Traffic comes standstill as differently-abled people protest at Mandi House

About 200 differently-abled people who had applied for group D jobs with the railways staged a protest at Mandi House on Wednesday, demanding that railway officials meet them, leading to massive traffic snarls.

Police said the protesters blocked the Mandi House roundabout at around 3 pm. The agitators said a hearing was to be held on their jobs on Wednesday but the officials did not turn up for it.

The protesters demanded that railway officials come to the spot and listen to their demands, they said.

"Unless we get the jobs that we deserve, we will continue to protest. We have been sitting on dharna since morning and we will not leave the place unless we get an assurance from the railways," said Maan Singh, 32, one of the protestors.

The police said that traffic on Copernicus Road, Bhagwan Das Road and Sikandra Road remained affected till late evening due to the protest.

According to traffic police, the traffic to the closed roads have been diverted on other possible routes. The area witnessed congestion during peak hours but later the situation turned normal.

Extra traffic police personnel were also deployed on the stretch to facilitate traffic but due to festive rush and peak hour traffic volume was high and it inconvenienced commuters, the officer said.

People complained or heavy traffic jams from India Gate till the ITO due to which two-wheelers were using footpaths.

"My vehicle has not even moved an inch in the last 20 minutes," said Mahesh, a commuter at Mandi House said.

"I got stuck in a traffic jam at Tilak Marg because Copernicus Marg was shut due to protest," another commuter said.

A senior traffic police official said that police personnel had tried their best to convince the protestors to call off the agitation or at least shift to the side, but they refused to do it.

The officer added that they were trying to coordinate with railway officers for a meeting with the protesters.

"Railway officers have agreed to meet a group of protesters at 10.30 am on Thursday but protesters are demanding a written confirmation. We are convincing them to call of the protest as it causing a major traffic disruption," the officer added.