The arrival of large number of people for the convention of Muslims organised by the Janata Dal (Secular) caused traffic congestion for some time around Palace Grounds here on Sunday.
Several motorists had to endure slow moving traffic on Bellary Road as a procession of buses, autorickshaws and two-wheelers, which began from Mysore Road, approached the venue of the convention.
An IT employee Varun Murthy said that he took more than an hour to traverse about two kilometres of Bellary Road from Mehkri Circle towards the city. Vasanth Kumar, a resident of Sadashivanagar, said that the traffic movement came to a standstill around 11 a.m.
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The traffic police had alerted the public to avoid the roads surrounding Palace Grounds in view of the convention. Though the police attributed the congestion to the procession, which was on its way to the venue, a traffic police constable posted near the venue said that traffic movement was also affected due to crossing of road by groups of people, including women with children.
“Traffic was held up for at least 40 seconds every time a group crossed the road. All this added up,” the traffic constable said.