A boy boarded a bus from his hometown (Ara) to Patna at six in the evening. The bus ran smoothly – until it approached a bridge. Son, a river which traverses through southwestern Bihar and has now shrunken like anything – thanks to the ‘Dam culture’, was a huge and wide river during the British Rule. It was so enormous that boats capsized in it most of the time, especially during monsoon. Because of that, the British were unable to carry out their trade smoothly from the capital to its other parts and vice versa. The other part(s), you see, were significant for the British, as they were the rice bowl of the state. So they built a strong iron bridge over the river to help them in the smooth flow of goods.
The bridge was a masterpiece. On top of it ran trains and under it was built a metallic road. The bus had stopped near this bridge. Yes, it is the same bridge built by the British, albeit without its past glory. Now it literally cries due to overload. The bus stood at the same place for an hour or so; all the passengers got frustrated – including the boy. He came out of the bus to inquire about the situation. He found out that his bus was the only commercial vehicle in the queue. All the rest were trucks laden with sand and stone. Although the bridge has two lanes, a bus or any other vehicle whose height is more than that of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) cannot pass through the single lane of the bridge.
It is because the British designed the bridge in such a way. While going towards Patna from Ara, the lane through which buses can pass is in the opposite direction of vehicular flow. Simply put, it was the wrong way. Therefore, it becomes a one-way passage. Since that one-way was blocked, naturally the bus could not move forward. Do you know why that one way was blocked? the road was blocked because the procession was taking up all the space and traffic police just stood and watched, which means that faith was being given more importance than everything else.
On being asked why they could not hold the procession vigilantes and let the bus pass, one of the constables, said, “Danga ho jayega toh kya kijiyega. Abhi to thoda late pahunch jaiyega ghar, tab pahunch bhi payenge kya?”, which loosely translates to, “What would you do if these vigilantes create chaos and turn it into a riot? Now, at least you are reaching home, although late. But in that situation, you reaching home might not be a certainty”. Hearing the logic the boy was shocked. But he wasn’t surprised. He knew that every word coming out of the constable’s mouth was reasonable. In the end, the procession was over. The bus did move, but only after a delay of 2.5 hours.
Idol immersion procession in particular, and religious and political processions, in general, have become one of the main reasons for traffic jams in festive seasons and during elections. This causes various problems for citizens. But who cares for the common folk? At least not the politicians or the hate-mongering religious leaders! Now imagine if someone was sick on that bus or there was an ambulance waiting behind the bus. Who would have been held responsible if something had happened? Situations like these are quite common in India. Whose fault is it? Who should be held accountable for the 2.5 hours delay that the bus passengers faced? Is it the fault of the Government of India and Bihar that they have neither been able to alter the design to make the bridge two-way for buses or provide an alternate solution to this problem?
Is it the fault of the Bihar Police that they are unable to manage such large traffic and are unable to contain vigilantism in the name of faith and religion? Is it the fault of those faithful procession-goers who block the entire traffic in the name of faith and religion? Or is it my (the boy, yes I am the boy) fault that I chose to travel by bus, even while knowing that it’s risky and that most of the time there are jams on the bridge? I still hoped against hope that this time around it would be different when I could have easily boarded the train. Now, those of you who have read the entire story, decide whose fault it is.
What could the administration do to make our roads and bridges safe during processions?
In order to take out processions, the permission from Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) is necessary. Apart from this, there are specific regulations which are to be followed. They are as follows:
1. Occupying more than one-fourth of the width of the road for the procession.
2. The procession is taken out before 11 am and after 5 pm.
In this case, neither of the two regulations were adhered to by the procession-goers. To tackle situations like these, Article 25(2) of the Indian Constitution provides for the interference of the state in matters related to financial, economic, and political or other secular activity which is related to reform or social welfare.
And I believe that the situation described in this case, or for that matter any situation related to road safety, thereby implying in itself, public safety is part of the “social welfare” mentioned in article 25(2). This hence provides legal backing to actions that police and administration must take against people practising hooliganism under the guise of religious rights.
I firmly believe that police and administration should make use of those rules and provisions as laid out by state and the constitution and should dismantle this menace of unwanted processions which cause undue problems even risking the life of the citizens.