Congress march disrupts traffic movement in central Delhi

As the workers and leaders had planned to reach the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road and then march to the ED office along with Gandhi, all roads leading to the two places were heavily barricaded and teeming with police personnel to avoid any untoward incident and to prevent a large gathering.

Traffic was disrupted in several parts of central Delhi on Monday as the Congress party leaders and cadre took out a rally in support of senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case pertaining to the National Herald-AJL case.

Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda during a protest as they march from AICC headquarters towards the ED office in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi. (ANI)

As the workers and leaders had planned to reach the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road and then march to the ED office along with Gandhi, all roads leading to the two places were heavily barricaded and teeming with police personnel to avoid any untoward incident and to prevent a large gathering. Despite that, over 1,200 Congress leaders and party workers managed to reach the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters and more than 300 of them were detained and taken to different police stations.

Nearly 350 traffic police personnel were deployed in central Delhi to regulate and divert traffic and to ensure that the roads in Lutyens’ Delhi remained congestion free. The traffic police used their social media accounts and FM channels to disseminate information and advisories to the public regarding road blockages, vehicular movement, restrictions on various roads and diversions, said Aalap Patel, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

In a tweet the traffic police said, “Due to special traffic arrangements inwards movement of buses will be restricted in New Delhi beyond Gol Dak Khana Junction, Patel Chowk, Windsor Place, Teen Murti Chowk, Prithviraj Road.”

“Apart from personnel from the New Delhi district, we also used personnel from other districts for the special traffic arrangement duty on Monday. No major congestion was reported. Slow moving traffic was witnessed only during the morning and evening peak hours. But even during that period, our personnel ensured that there was no major jam anywhere,” said DCP Patel.

According to the traffic police, the four major stretches that were completely closed to traffic were Akbar Road (from Moti Lal Nehru Marg Roundabout to C-Hexagon), Janpath Road (from Claridges Roundabout to Maulana Azad Road Roundabout), APJ Abdul Kalam Road (from Claridges Roundabout to Q-Point) and Moti Lal Nehru Marg (from Q-Point to Moti Lal Nehru Marg Roundabout). Claridges Roundabout, Akbar Road, Motilal Nehru Marg, Rajesh Pilot, APJ Abdul Kalam Road and Mulana Azad road were the stretches most affected by the protest, a senior traffic police officer said, asking not to be named.

There were also some diversions in place. Motorists travelling between north and south Delhi were diverted to Lodhi Road and Subramaniam Bharti Marg. Traffic police temporarily allowed traffic on Rajpath from Rafi Marg to Man Singh Road junction.

Commuters who were impacted by the closures and diversions took to social media forums to complain. Gaurav Tyagi, a motorist, tweeted, “What is happening in Delhi today. Traffic at every crossing and no one to manage @dtptraffic. Stuck at Yamuna Vihar crossing from last 30 minutes.”

Vineet Prajapati, a resident of Pandav Nagar, who works in a private company in Naraina, said, “To travel between my home and office, I usually drove through central Delhi as traffic on the Ring Road is always more. Today, several roads from India Gate onwards were blocked and I had no idea why. Although traffic personnel were present to guide us about the diversions, the vehicles were moving slowly and the volume of traffic was high on the alternative routes as well.”