MARGAO
Spectators who preferred to head home after the spectacular inaugural ceremony of the 37th National Games were left stranded at the Nehru stadium junction for well over an hour as the road from the junction to the Ravindra bhavan stretch was strictly closed for traffic.
Reason: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Carcade was station on the road, from the Borkar superstore to the Ravindra bhavan, stretch, with the men-in-uniform strictly implementing the security norms.
Leave alone allowing riders or motorists to drive down on the Nehru stadum junction to the Ravindra Bhavan, stretch, pedestrians were totally barred from even walking on the road.
Those caught in the security tangle were citizens and media personnel who had parked their vehicles at the Borkar superstores and further down the stretch. As a result of which, they had to all wait not for only the PM’s address to end inside the stadium, but for the carcade to leave the place after Modi’s exit.
Fervent pleas made by women and children to walk down the road towards the parking area fell on deaf ears of the Goa Police and para-military personnel, who insisted that they are mandated to follow the strict security norms or not allowing any vehicle or pedestrian to walk past the carcade.
