Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Tuesday banned marriage processions on five major arterial routes of the city in order to ease traffic movement, ensure smooth passage to essential services and reduce inconvenience to commuters during the processions.
Police sources said from February 1, major arterial routes - New Airport Crossing-Acharya Vihar via AG Square, Raj Bhawan Square-KIIT Square, Kalpana Square-Raj Bhawan Square, Vani Vihar-Sishu Bhawan Square and Cuttack Road-Rasulgarh Square-would remain off limits for wedding revellers during processions.
The move comes following a report by DCP (Traffic) that marriage processions lead to congestion on the main routes which are generally busy thus hampering smooth flow of traffic and prevent commuters from reaching destinations such as railway station, bus stops, airport as well as hospitals in time. This apart, essential services like ambulance, fire services also face difficulty due to such obstruction caused by wedding parades.
Police said, the prohibition will remain in place until further instructions.