New Delhi: Traffic came to a standstill in and around central Delhi on Thursday as various diversions were put in place owing to a Congress protest and the Kanwar Yatra coupled with waterlogging on arterial stretches. The Congress on Wednesday announced that its leaders will march towards the Enforcement Directorate office and protest outside the Raj Bhawan against the ED's questioning of party president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case.
The Delhi Traffic Police blocked key stretches in central Delhi in view of the protests. As per news agency PTI, the traffic moved at a snail's pace at several key stretches connecting central Delhi with the rest of the city and key areas of the capital region such as Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad.
Some of the arterial roads that witnessed heavy traffic are Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Bhairon Marg-Ring Road junction, ITO, Vikas Marg, Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway, Sarai Kale Khan, India Gate circle, Dhaula Kuan, Rohtak Road, Barapullah elevated corridor, and Aurobindo Marg.
Commuters going towards central Delhi were caught in traffic jams. "Getting stuck in traffic is a nightmare, which I lived today morning. I reached my office near Rail Bhawan an hour late because of the heavy traffic," Kartik Sharma, a Noida resident, told PTI.
Vaishali Katkurwar, a resident of Mayur Vihar-1, shared a similar experience, blaming authorities for the "traffic mess".
"It is a complete mess out there. I was stuck in traffic for around half an hour. Authorities are to be blamed for this. Be it a demonstration, a procession or waterlogging, traffic is the first to get affected. They should make arrangements for the smooth flow of traffic," she said.
The traffic police took to Twitter to inform commuters about traffic restrictions on various routes and advised them to plan their journey accordingly.
"Kindly avoid Motilal Nehru Marg, Akbar Road, Janpath and Man Singh Road between 0900 hrs and 1400 hrs on 21.07.22. Due to special arrangements, traffic movement will not be possible on these roads," the traffic police stated in a series of tweets.
The inward movement of buses was restricted in New Delhi beyond the Gol Dak Khana junction, Patel Chowk, Windsor Place, Teen Murti Chowk, and Prithviraj Road.
"Kindly avoid Gol Methi junction, Tughlak Road Junction, Claridges Junction, Q-point Junction, Sunehri Masjid Junction, Maulana Azad Road Junction, and Man Singh Road Junction between 0900 hrs and 1400 hrs on 21.07.22. Due to special arrangements, there will be heavy traffic movement on these roads," it tweeted.
Waterlogging on key stretches contributed to the traffic woes.
A commuter Deepak Diwan said that authorities should be held responsible as he revealed that he almost missed an important meeting at his office as he was stuck in a traffic jam on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
"It takes me 50 minutes to reach my office in Karol Bagh from Vaishali but today the journey was over one-and-a-half hours long because of the traffic snarls. Authorities should be held responsible," he said.
(With Agency Inputs)