7-hour traffic jam on NH-24 brings chaos to Delhi

Commuters had a harrowing time on Monday after protests on the Delhi-UP border blocked traffic on NH-24 that leads to Mayur Vihar Phase II, Indirapuram and Vaishali for over seven hours. Day when NCR crawled on NH-24

Commuters had a harrowing time on Monday after protests on the Delhi-UP border blocked traffic on NH-24 that leads to Mayur Vihar Phase II, Indirapuram and Vaishali for over seven hours.

The protests started after the Delhi Police tried to prevent about 10 busloads of people from entering Delhi via the Ghazipur border to join a protest at Jor Bagh, in central Delhi, against alleged attempts to grab prime wakf land in the area.

Two metro stations — Jor Bagh and INA — were also shut for about three hours in an attempt to prevent protestors from reaching the protest venue.

Read:Longest ride home: Day when NCR crawled on NH-24

Heavy Traffic jam at National Highway 24 due to protests at Karbala, Jore Bagh. HT Photo/Sonu Mehta

“Traffic was blocked from 2pm on Monday and the holdup continued till late evening,” said Ran Vijay Singh, a traffic circle officer at Ghaziabad.

“I started at around 6.20pm from Vasant Kunj and could not reach Indirapuram till 9pm on Monday. There is no information about what is happening and thousands of commuters are stuck around the border areas of Ghaziabad and also inside Delhi,” said Sanjeev Sethi, a resident of Indirapuram.

The protests at the border led to traffic snarls along the 18km stretch in Ghaziabad and also over the Link Road area which connects Anand Vihar to Mohan Nagar.

Heavy Traffic jam at National Highway 24 due to protests at Karbala, Jore Bagh. HT Photo/Sonu Mehta

The protests at Jor Bagh also led to traffic jams on arterial roads in south Delhi. Traffic came to a standstill on the entire stretch connecting Jor Bagh and AIIMS. Traffic in areas adjoining Jor Bagh like Lodhi Road, Aurobindo Chowk, Safdarjung Madrasa and Tughlak Marg was also affected.

Metro commuters were also taken by surprise. “We shut the metro stations at 3.20pm on security grounds. Both stations were opened at 6.23pm” said a metro spokesperson.

Together the stations cater to about 15,000 commuters daily. There were reports of violence and burning of vehicles on NH-24 though the Ghaziabad Police denied it. “There was no incident of setting fire to vehicles. The protestors had tried to set fire to a UP Roadways bus but they were stopped,” Singh added.

The entire NH-24 was blocked for traffic after hundreds of protesters staged a sit-in dharna at UP-Gate border near Delhi. HT Photo / Sakib Ali



Traffic jam at NH-24 near Akshardham to Ghazipur due to Shia Muslims agitation at Delhi-UP Ghazipur border. HT Photo / Mohd Zakir.





The entire NH-24 was blocked for traffic after hundreds of protesters staged a sit-in dharna at UP-Gate border near Delhi. HT Photo / Sakib Ali