Sisodia pre-arrest roadshow, barricades lead to traffic snarls in Delhi

Areas reporting congestion included Lodhi Colony, Dayal Singh College Road, Prithviraj Road, Chirag Dilli, Lajpat Nagar, ITO and Rajghat and on flyovers such as Barapulla and Moolchand

Commuters on Sunday complained of slow-moving traffic on multiple stretches in the national capital, particularly in the south, southwest and central regions between 8.30am and 11.30am, while police claimed the congestion was cleared in an hour.

Barricades outside Manish Sisodia’s residence. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Special commissioner of police (traffic) SS Yadav said traffic was affected due to security arrangements in many areas of the national capital in anticipation of agitations around the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters on Lodhi Road.

On Sunday, CBI summoned deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia for interrogation regarding irregularities in the excise policy 2022-23. Sisodia was arrested on Sunday evening after being interrogated for about eight hours.

To be sure, Delhi Police, tweeted a traffic advisory on Saturday night, informing commuters that due to special traffic arrangements on Sunday, there would be traffic diversions on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, BhishamPitamah Marg and Lodhi Road from am to 3pm. “The motorists are advised to take alternate routes via Ashram Chowk, Ring Road and Aurobindo Marg for convenience,” the tweet said.

“The traffic congestion was cleared within an hour. The security arrangements were was mainly in accordance with the intelligence inputs and to maintain the law and order scenario. Moolchand flyover was opened within an hour. We had to close some stretches connecting Lodhi Road for security reasons. Section 144 was imposed in the areas near CBI headquarters as deputy CM Manish Sisodia was summoned by the CBI for interrogation,” Yadav said.

Residents, however, complained of hours-long congestion in several areas.

Bineeta Mukherjee (65), a resident of Noida, said she could not perform her Sunday’s special puja at Kali Bari temple on Lodhi Road. “I started from my home in Sector 21 at 10am. Our car crossed Barapulla in 30 minutes. But after that the road connecting to Lodhi Road was almost choked. The traffic police officers asked us to take a diversion and go back as the road connecting to Kali Bari was closed due to heavy barricading of the entire area,” she said.

Dinesh Kumar (40) of Civil Lines said it took him three hours to reach Lajpat Nagar from his residence in Civil Lines. “We took the route via Moolchand flyover, which was choked for almost one-and-a-half hours. It was absolute chaos there,” he said.