Traffic thrown into chaos in central, south parts of Delhi

Traffic chaos in central and south Delhi due to BCD elections caused severe snarls on major roads, frustrating commuters throughout Monday.

New Delhi: Traffic chaos erupted in several parts of central and south Delhi, causing massive snarls on some arterial roads throughout Monday. This was due to special traffic arrangements for the elections held at the Delhi High Court compound to elect 25 members of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD).

Heavy vehicular traffic jam seen at C-Hexagon at India Gate (Hindustan Times)

The Sher Shah Road from the India Gate and Mathura Road sides had been kept out of bounds for vehicular movement during the BCD elections on February 21, 22 and 23. A traffic advisory was also issued in advance, informing the public about the road closure and roads to be avoided on the three days.

Throughout Monday, the C-Hexagon, also called the India Gate Circle, Purana Quila Road, Tilak Marg, Mathura Road, and Zakir Hussain Marg witnessed standstill to slow moving traffic due to multi-lane parking of vehicles on the stretches and presence of thousands of lawyers at the High Court to cast their votes and support their candidates.

The high volume traffic on the affected routes also led to bottlenecks cascading onto the alternate routes such as the Shahjahan Road, Akbar Road, Ashoka Road, KG Marg and Copernicus Marg and it further escalated to other routes in Lutyens Delhi.

The traffic disruption began in the morning peak hours and continued till late evening, even as additional deployment of traffic police personnel were made in and around the Delhi High Court and the India Gate Circle, traffic police officers said.

“Unauthorised parking on vehicles and that too in multi-lanes was the major reason for the traffic gridlocks because very less space was left to accommodate the general traffic. Our personnel still ensured that no major traffic snarls happened on the routes,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.

Motorists said that almost all roads around the India Gate and Delhi High Court were packed with vehicles, leaving little space for the normal traffic flow.

Sangeeta Shivhare, who was travelling to Lajpat Nagar on Monday, said that traffic was terribly bad around the entire stretch — Bhairon Mandir temple, Pragati Maidan and Mathura Road.

“There were cars on both sides of the road. My cab couldn’t pass for more than 30 minutes. We were stuck as DTC buses were also coming through. The traffic congestion continued till Lajpat Nagar market. No traffic policemen were deployed on the streets. People on bikes and scooters were jumping barricades and road blocks. There was absolute chaos,” said Shivhare.

Another commuter, Sonali Tripathi, said: “I had to travel from Jangpura to ITO. I booked a bike taxi and a trip that would have lasted only for 30 minutes took one-and-a-half-hours. The Mathura Road was completely gridlocked.”

Many commuters took to social media to lament about the traffic chaos and draw attention of the traffic police and the government towards the problems they faced. “Traffic jams near India Gate have become a routine thing especially in the evening — is the government taking any remedial measures to streamline the same. Are the common citizens so inferior to the Babus/VVIPs that they have to suffer on a daily basis?” Sanjay Kumar alleged on X.