New Year revellers choke central Delhi despite restrictions

Traffic control room records showed that in the evening, long traffic snarls were reported from Tilak Marg, ITO, Mandi House, India Gate roundabout, Connaught Place outer circle, Zakir Hussain Marg, Akbar Road, Teen Murti Marg and Shanti Path.

Roads on central Delhi were choked with vehicles on New Year’s Day as revellers hit areas around India Gate, Connaught Place, Purana Qila, Sunder Nursery and Indraprastha Park.

People gather in huge crowds near India gate to celebrate New year's day, in New Delhi, India, on Friday. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

Delhi traffic police said that from around 2pm on Friday, people started pouring into the India Gate lawns, after which the section of the road leading to the monument had to be closed for general public. However, this did not help traffic congestion on the roads around the area.

Traffic control room records showed that in the evening, long traffic snarls were reported from Tilak Marg, ITO, Mandi House, India Gate roundabout, Connaught Place outer circle, Zakir Hussain Marg, Akbar Road, Teen Murti Marg and Shanti Path.

Anil Mittal, additional spokesperson, Delhi Police said at one time during the day, at least 5,000 people were present at India Gate on Friday.

“People kept coming and going as there were restrictions on public gathering. Adequate staff was deployed at India Gate and nearby areas to ensure that the visitors adhered to social distancing norms and wore face masks. Traffic police was also deployed in adequate strength to make sure the traffic movement remains smooth,” Mittal said.

Despite the fact that Delhi Zoo, which was a major attraction among the public on New Year’s Day till last year, was closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, people gathered around Purana Qila to enjoy street food and ice creams. This also led to traffic hold ups around Bhairon Marg, Pragati Maidan and around Indraprastha flyover.

“Cars were parked on roadsides and people walking on the roadside were one of the main reasons for traffic jams around these spots, Additional traffic officials were deployed around these areas to manage the rush,” the Delhi traffic police said.

Looking at the rush by afternoon, the Delhi police on Friday had to direct the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to restrict entry and exit in at least five Metro stations to control crowd in the central Delhi.

“Exit gates of Khan Market, Supreme Court, Central Secretariat and Mandi House are closed. Entry and interchange is permitted at these stations,” DMRC tweeted on Friday. All entry/exit gates were however opened by 6pm.

The exit gates of the Rajiv Chowk Metro stations were shut down from 4pm because of the increase in the footfall in Connaught Place. Because of the high influx of people at the Metro gates, and the Covid-19 restrictions, the average waiting time of trains went up to 35 minutes.

DMRC officials said that this was done on the directions of Delhi police, as a security measure to control crowd in these stations.

“We were told that it is around these stations that people gather the most for New Year’s celebrations,” said a DMRC spokesperson.

People posted pictures of traffic jams on social media.

“Massive traffic jam is seen on Captain Gaur Marg, starting from C-block East of Kailash traffic signal. The construction at Ashram Chowk is making things worse for commuters,” tweeted VK Aggarwal.

Another commuter, Ayush Sariyar tweeted, “Huge traffic block at Karol Bagh-Jhandewalan stretch. Long queue of vehicles, blocking the arterial road.”