Snarls seen at key stretches as Messi reaches Delhi

Nearly 2,500 traffic and security personnel were deployed in and around the venue to handle the crowd and manage the flow of vehicles.

Heavy to slow-moving traffic was witnessed in several parts of central and north Delhi, especially around the Arun Jaitley stadium and ITO chowk, on Monday as thousands of people turned up at the stadium and outside a luxury hotel in high-security diplomatic zone in Chanakyapuri to get a glimpse of Argentina football icon Lionel Messi during his visit to the Capital as part of the final leg of his G.O.A.T India Tour.

Snarls seen at key stretches as Messi reaches Delhi

The movement of VVIPs, including Union home minister Amit Shah, at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Marg for the rousing welcome of newly-appointed BJP national working president and Bihar minister Nitin Nabin, who took charge as the party’s national working present in the presence of Shah and other senior party leaders, also added to the traffic snarls.

The roads that witnessed heavy traffic were Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, the Ring Road, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, the DDU Marg, the Vikas Marg, the Mathura Marg, the Tilak Marg, the Netaji Subhash Marg, the Asaf Ali Road and the Minto Road. Heavy to slow moving traffic on these roads were reported from noon until the two key events were concluded in the evening.

“Traffic snarls were witnessed in the evening when over 25,000 people, who had gathered at the stadium, dispersed and came on the roads around it after Messi spent nearly one and half hours there during which he addressed the crowd that went into a frenzy. There were people everywhere walking on the roads while some were in cars and on two wheelers. It took me nearly 50 minutes to reach Sarai Kale Khan from Daryaganj, which is usually a 20 minutes drive,” said Dipak Kumar Jha, a marketing professional.

Senior police officers said that no major traffic congestion was reported as the Delhi Traffic Police had issued an advisory a day in advance regarding traffic restrictions and diversions on roads around the Arun Jaitley Stadium for the star’s visit and nearly 2,500 traffic and security personnel were deployed in and around the venue to handle the crowd and manage the flow of vehicles.

While the two key events disrupted the traffic from afternoon to evening, poor visibility on roads caused by dense fog and smog also led to slow-moving traffic during the morning hours on many arterial roads across the city.