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Relief camps trigger traffic snarls in east Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi
Traffic in east Delhi moved at a snail’s pace on Wednesday, owing to hundreds of tents that have been hastily pitched by the government at the side of arterial roads to rehabilitate more than 16,000 people from Yamuna’s floodplains.
Delhi Traffic Police officials said that looking at the rising water level of the Yamuna, the government agencies had set up camps on the roadside, where residents of the floodplains are being evacuated and shifted. The process has been ongoing since Sunday evening.
The influx of people triggered severe jams along Vikas Marg, ITO, Noida Link Road, Geeta Colony, Garhi Mandu and Usmanpur on Wednesday. Jams were also reported around the Delhi-Meerut expressway and areas around Nizamuddin on Wednesday morning.
“In the morning a lot of people were moved to rehabilitation camps. To facilitate their stay in these tents there were water tankers and food stalls etc. In many parts, the portions of carriageway were eaten up,” said a senior traffic official.
The official said that because many panicked residents were moving around the camps to enquire about the flood situation, sections of roads had to be cordoned off to ensure their safety.
“People were constantly moving in and out of the help centres around camps. Many people had also moved in with heavy luggage, such as their furniture. Because the tents that were set up did not have much space, a lot of the luggage caried by the residents was left in the open along footpaths and along roadsides,” another official, managing traffic on ITO, said.
The Delhi Traffic Police had also closed the Old Iron Bridge (Loha Pul) for traffic movement from Monday afternoon, when the water level in Yamuna started increasing. Because of this, areas around Shastri Park, Nigambodh Ghat and Kashmere Gate have been witnessing major traffic snarls.
“Traffic movement was opened on Loha Pul from Wednesday 6pm, as the water level began to recede,” the Delhi Traffic Police later said in an alert.
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