Rakshabandhan nightmare: Traffic crawls, borders choke

NEW DELHI: Commuters faced a harrowing time on Thursday as thousands hit the roads to meet relatives for Rakshabandhan, slowing down traffic movement.

NEW DELHI: Commuters faced a harrowing time on Thursday as thousands hit the roads to meet relatives for Rakshabandhan, slowing down traffic movement.

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Delhi Traffic Police said jams began from parts of central and south Delhi from Wednesday evening around 4pm. Other parts of the city were also affected by the snarls.

Stretches like Dhaula Kuan, Sardar Patel Marg, Teen Murti Marg, Moti Bagh, Central Secretariat, Connaught Place, Mandi House, C-Hexagon, ITO, Vikas Marg, Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road and South Extension were the worst hit.

“The traffic jams in some parts of the city continued throughout Wednesday night. There was an increase in the volume of traffic on several roads. Around Thursday afternoon, the situation was slightly under control but the traffic flow picked up again in the evening,” said a senior traffic police officer.

In major traffic intersections such as ITO, Ashram, Dhaula Kuan, Rajouri Garden (Ring Road traffic signal) and Rao Tula Ram Marg, traffic volume went up by at least 20%, the officer said.

Other affected stretches were Delhi Cantt (Cariappa Road and Sadar Bazar Road), Sagarpur, Dabri, Patel Nagar and Mayur Vihar. In all major intersections, additional staff were deployed to manage the rush.

The capital’s borders were also choked as a huge queue of vehicles were trying to enter and leave the city. On the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and DND flyway, commuters had to wait for over an hour to cover a 4-km distance.

“Is Delhi police on holiday? Huge traffic jams in and around vikaspuri (sic),” tweeted one commuter Anuj Srivastava on Thursday, with a picture of vehicles lined up on the road.