Chandigarh witnessed massive traffic chaos on Friday as a farmers’ protest brought several key roads to a standstill, leaving commuters stranded in hours-long traffic jams.More than 100 buses carrying farmers arrived in the city. The protesters marched from Sector 34 to Matka Chowk, demanding a reduction in petrol and diesel prices. The march led to severe traffic congestion across Chandigarh, with vehicles crawling on several major roads.From Madhya Marg to Dakshin Marg, traffic remained choked as police struggled to regulate the flow of vehicles. Despite the farmers having announced the protest in advance, the traffic police appeared unprepared, with several arterial roads witnessing major bottlenecks.Though the Chandigarh Police had made elaborate security arrangements and issued a traffic advisory to regulate vehicular movement in and around the protest venue, there was chaos on the roads.Long serpentine queues of vehicles stretched for kilometres along Madhya Marg, causing significant inconvenience to commuters.”If the authorities knew the protests were planned, why weren’t effective traffic arrangements made? This is complete chaos, and traffic is moving at a snail’s pace,” said Rakesh, a commuter travelling towards Zirakpur.The worst affected were commuters heading to the Chandigarh railway station and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport in Mohali.”We’ve been stuck here for nearly an hour with no movement at all,” said a traveller caught in the traffic near Sector 17 while trying to catch a flight.