Series of protests bring Central Business District to a grinding halt

The Central Business District (CBD) was choked with multiple protest rallies and roadblocks on Monday morning. Traffic came to a grinding halt in the area, giving the police a hard time.

A major cause of the roadblocks was the protest rally held by Kannada film artistes, against dubbing of other language movies into Kannada. The rally was led by actor Shivarajkumar and Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj. The protesters gathered at Mysore Bank Circle around 11 am and blocked the road for a few minutes.

They subsequently proceeded towards the Central College grounds, where an open meeting was held. Thousands of fans and supporters were present at the meeting. Besides, members of Rajkumar Fans’ Association had organised a bike rally to show their support.

Meanwhile, sugar cane growers in the State had organised a convention under the leadership of Kuruchuru Shantakumar. They gathered at the City Railway Station and took out a protest march towards Freedom Park through Anand Rao Circle flyover. The roadblock was further compounded by the protest staged by members of the State Teachers’ Association at the Freedom Park.

B Dayananda, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), said: “Although we (City police) had taken necessary precautions by imposing prohibitory orders in the area and additional traffic police personnel were deployed to control traffic, the overwhelmingly large number of people upset our plans.”

Mysore Bank Circle, Palace Road, Race Course Road, areas around City Railway station were the most affected. There was also bumper-to-bumper traffic on Seshadri Road, Anand Rao Circle, Majestic, Platform Street, Subedar Chatram Road, Malleswaram, Seshadripuram, Race Course Road, Nrupathunga Road, Infantry Road, Cubbon Park, Corporation Circle and surrounding areas. The traffic cleared only late in the afternoon.