Congress protest against power tariff hike leads to traffic chaos

Since the rally was organised outside the entrance of Shakti Bhawan (head office of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation), it left a number of officials and government employees a hassled lot, as the road remained blocked for several hours. The protest started around 11 am. As the parking lot remained occupied, a large number of vehicles of party workers and government officials remained parked on the internal roads in Sector 6. The traffic leading to the venue was diverted, causing inconvenience to commuters.

During his speech, Hooda defended the party’s decision to organise the rally at the venue. “There could not have been a better location to hold this rally than outside Shakti Bhawan, as we wanted to let the decision-makers know their decision to increase the tariff was unjustified. But we are law-abiding citizens, and will not enter the building, as allegedly misconstrued by people,” said Hooda.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Vivek Atray said that the organisers had taken due permission for the rally and assured that it would be held peacefully. “They had taken prior permission stating that it will be a peaceful rally,” he added.

The organisers had put large-sized hoardings on the roads and near the roundabouts about the rally. When contacted, Municipal Commissioner Jagdeep Dhanda said that he was not aware of the hoardings, and required action could be taken under the relevant provisions of law.