The Indian Air Force recruitment rally organised in the city on Saturday got a huge response from the youth of various districts, including Visakhapatnam, Nellore and Vizianagaram.
As many as 5,291 candidates took part in the recruitment rally which was the qualifying round for candidate selection. The 1.6-kilometre run was conducted on the M.G. Road from the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium to Bandar Locks which was cleared by 464 candidates. They later underwent the physical test and about 384 got qualified for the written test.
District Collector B. Lakshmikantham and other officials supervised the rally arrangements.
Utter chaos
Meanwhile, the running race held on the city’s busiest road turned a major hurdle for traffic movement and caused utter chaos on all internal roads leading to M.G. Road in the morning peak hours. Thousands of motorists and commuters, including VIPs, were subjected to inconvenience due to traffic snarls on most of the roads linked to M.G. Road from the Benz Circle to the Police Control Room junction.
The rally which began around 6 a.m. as per the schedule went on till 11 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. as per the plan. During this time, one side of the M.G Road stretch was blocked forcing thousands of motorists to take alternative roads. This caused the alternative roads to jam with bumper to bumper traffic.
The organisers of the rally and the city police drew the flak of the motorists and commuters. The most affected were people heading to the railway station and bus station as the traffic on Eluru Road too got stalled for some time. Top bureaucrats and lawmakers who were heading to the secretariat too got stuck in the traffic.
Police said that the delay in completion of the rally was the reason behind the traffic snarls.
Meanwhile, the rally being held on a blacktop road in the heart of the city came as a rude shock to the candidates. Most of them expected that the rally would be held in the IGMC stadium where other physical tests for the qualified candidates were done.
The maximum temperature recorded on Saturday was 34.4 degrees Celsius and it briefly rained at the venue around noon.
Venue changed
Responding to the woes of public and candidates, the district administration and the city police changed the venue to BRTS Road for the rally to be held on Monday. The organisers will pick up and drop the candidates between the two venues.
