Band, baaja, baraat cause traffic chaos
The ‘big fat Indian wedding’ is not just a hackneyed expression, because there are many things about this occasion that makes it “exceptional” and in many cases “unconventional” too. Recently, the lavish Indian wedding of Chicago millionaire Vikram Aditya Kumar caused a major traffic disruption in New Zealand and the
onlookers as well as commuters had a tough time. It may be something new to the Kiwis as they couldn’t relate to the hoopla of this ‘Bollywood style’ wedding but for Delhiites traffic chaos due to wedding processions has become a common feature and a regular headache.
Even though the weddings cause many problems to commuters, nobody takes action. Sumit Dhamija, a DU student, says, “It’s really annoying when you are going somewhere and suddenly there is a big wedding procession on the road. I had a tough time reaching my college once because I was stuck in a baraat for hours. There was no cop to clear the crowd from the road and the revellers kept dancing without halt.”
If there is a big wedding procession going from one destination to the nearby wedding hall or temple, it is understood that more than half of the road will surely be blocked. Aastha Tiwari, an MBA student, recalls, “A few weeks back I had a really terrible encounter with a baraat near Moti Bagh. In that procession most of the guys were drunk and they kept passing lewd comments on the girls passing by and misbehaved. The baraatis occupied the entire road and were not ready to move to the side. Finally after half an hour, the traffic cops intervened and cleared the jam.”
Dushyant Sinha, a businessman, feels that when it comes to baraats people usually think that traffic laws can be bypassed as nobody dares to protest against processions concerning family or religious ceremonies. He says, “During wedding seasons, while crossing Malviya Nagar, SL House area, the arterial route to Saket is always blocked. There is a police picket right outside the wedding hall and they never react to the chaos caused due to wedding procession.”
Daily commuters admit they usually avoid the routes that have a wedding hall or temple en route to their workplace. Sunanda Sharma, a HR professional, says, “I have stopped taking the East Of Kailash road while going home and take the longer Ring Road instead because every time I pass that area there is a wedding procession. It’s really sad that though commuters keep getting stuck due to such processions, there is still no traffic law to stop this mayhem on roads.”
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