Protests over summons to Kejriwal clog traffic arteries in central and south Delhi

The protests forced the police to shut down traffic on Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Marg, causing major congestion on several roads and intersections in the area.

Traffic in entire central Delhi was forced to crawl as the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party held protests against each other near their respective headquarters -- both situated 800 metres away on Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Marg -- on Friday, choking movement of motorists on the crucial ITO intersection and major road arteries which meets at the junction.

The spillover snarls also hit traffic on India Gate’s C-Hexagon, Mathura Road, Tilak Marg, Pragati Maidan tunnel-Purana Quila Road and Bhagwan Das Road, as the police diverted traffic from DDU Marg. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The two simultaneous protests forced the police to shut traffic on DDU Marg, catching motorists in the morning rush hour by surprise as there was no prior traffic advisory or warning issued by the Delhi Traffic Police. The traffic police issued just one advisory on its X handle that too at 1.52pm, but by that time thousands of commuters were already stuck in snarls on a number of roads around ITO --- one of the busiest traffic intersections in the city.

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As the city police barricaded some more streets such as Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and those connecting the DDU Marg from Delhi Gate side to stop the agitators from reaching the two protest sites – BJP and AAP headquarters – and park their vehicles, the traffic congestion worsened. The chock-a-block situation spilled into many adjacent arterial routes, including Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, IP Marg, Minto Road and Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg.

The spillover snarls also hit traffic on India Gate’s C-Hexagon, Mathura Road, Tilak Marg, Pragati Maidan tunnel-Purana Quila Road and Bhagwan Das Road, as the police diverted traffic from DDU Marg.

Commuters and experts blamed the traffic police for shoddy management and as the affected stretch involved some of the city’s critical traffic arteries.

Nihal Ahmed, 38, who works at an office located at ITO, said it took him nearly 90 minutes to reach his workplace from his residence in Vivek Vihar -- a commute that usually takes him half an hour. “There was no traffic advisory. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic on Vikas Marg and the alternative routes,” he said.

Suman Kumar, 42, a resident of Laxmi Nagar who works at an office near Ashram, said that there was very heavy traffic on Delhi-Meerut Expressway, and added that the jam on Vikas Marg slowed down traffic even on internal roads connecting the colony to the expressway.

“Every time there is a protest the common people have to bear the brunt. The traffic police should issue advisories and warnings in real time so that people can take alternative routes,” he said.

The traffic police personnel deployed on the affected routes could do little to fix the situation as the volume of vehicles was extremely high. The major traffic disruptions prompted the authorities to use the Delhi Traffic Police’s social media handle to issue a traffic advisory and advise commuters to opt for alternative routes.

“Movement of traffic is restricted on DDU Marg due to demonstration. Traffic is heavy on Vikas Marg, IP Marg, Minto road, JLN Marg and nearby areas due to diversion of traffic. Commuters are advised to avoid these stretches,” Delhi Traffic Police said in a post.

On the traffic disruptions, additional commissioner of police (traffic) Chinmoy Biswal said, “Elaborate law and order arrangements were put in place in and around the DDU Marg due to the protests by the AAP and BJP. As the number of protesters swelled, certain traffic diversions had to be planned. Only the DDU Marg was kept out of bounds for vehicular movement. Vehicles were moving on other adjoining roads. Traffic movement was slow because the restrictions were imposed during the morning peak hours, when people travel to their offices. Adequate deployment of traffic personnel was made on the affected routes to assist motorists and regulate the flow of vehicles.”

Anticipating a large turnout of agitators from both the parties and that the two groups may clash as their venues of protests were just some hundred metres away from each other, nearly 2,000 security personnel from Delhi Police and armed paramilitary forces, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF), were deployed in and around DDU Marg. As many as 700-800 personnel have been positioned at Singhu and Tikri borders as AAP workers were expected to arrive from Punjab to join the protest. No permissions were granted to the AAP and BJP by the city police for holding the protests, senior police officers aware of the matter said.

The Delhi Police said that 48 BJP workers and 15 AAP workers were detained from the protest venue while nearly 100 others were detained from other parts of the city, including 80 from the Singhu border. All were later released. No case was registered in connection with the protests.

“Adequate arrangements were put in place to ensure public order and normal movement. Fewer people were detained (from the protest sites) for a brief period,” said Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa, a DCP-rank officer.

A retired IPS officer, who served as special commissioner of Delhi Traffic Police, said the police should use all the avenues available to reach out to the people with advisories about restrictions so that the people are ready to handle the situation .“In any major event where traffic restrictions and diversions are imposed, issuing an advisory on traffic and security arrangements in public domain such as social media is the first step of the planning. In such scenarios, the authorities can also disseminate the traffic advisory through messages on FM radios, news channels, and social media platforms. Also, police personnel should make announcements through public address systems installed in police vehicles to inform motorists about road closures, traffic restrictions and diversions,” he said asking not to be named.

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The security arrangements in and around the protest venues were led by senior Delhi Police officers, including special commissioner of police (law and order) Ravindra Singh Yadav and deputy commissioner of police (central) Harsha Vardhan. Many of the security personnel were equipped with anti-riot gears. Several buses were also arranged and parked around the venues to remove protesters after detaining them. While both the carriageways of the DDU Marg were barricaded at ITO intersection and Minto Road intersection, the lanes leading to the protest sites were also heavily barricaded and manned by security personnel in large numbers.