Chaos on streets, around hospitals

The choked roads today afternoon surrounding the Ramlila Maidan spelled inconvenience for several patients of hospitals in the Delhi Gate area.

The choked roads on Monday afternoon surrounding the Ramlila Maidan spelled inconvenience for several patients of hospitals in the Delhi Gate area.

Ambulances were stuck in severe jam as thousands of Ramdev supporters took to the streets in protest. The families of a number of patients even complained to the police personnel manning the posts to provide passage to the vehicle.

"My brother is in the ambulance. I did not know about the jam and now we are stuck here for the past 20 minutes. And the hospital is just a few metres away," said Mohit Kaushal, whose elder brother had complained of acute chest pain. "Even the police were helpless."

A senior doctor at Lok Nayak Hospital confirmed the problem. "Though no one came to us directly, we heard that people were approaching the policemen directly to clear the roads. In fact, our OPDs also had a great rush today as many people walked in," said a senior doctor at Lok Nayak Hospital.

The neighbouring GB Pant Hospital also faced the same problem.

Full dress rehearsal for Independence Day made the traffic situation worse. Snarls were reported during peak hours on NH-24 on Nizamuddin Bridge. The protest and barricading of Subhash Marg affected traffic at ITO, Minto Road, Tilak Marg, Delhi Gate and JLN Marg among other roads.