Delhi celebrates odd-even day off, traffic crawls at peak hours

Sunday’s pleasant weather condition — coupled with the break from odd-even car restrictions — saw Delhiites come out of their homes in numbers to enjoy the day off causing massive traffic snarls.

Delhi’s roads, which are usually empty on weekends, choked with weekday peak hour rush-like traffic on Sunday.

View of a Traffic Jam on the inner circle at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Sunday. (Raj K Raj/ HT Photo)

Sunday’s pleasant weather condition — coupled with the break from odd-even car restrictions — saw Delhiites come out of their homes in numbers to enjoy the day off causing massive traffic snarls.

Several stretches in the city — mostly the entertainment hubs and shopping centres like Sarojini Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Vasant Kunj, Vasant Vihar, Maharani Bagh, Connaught Place, Khan Market, Bengali Market and Rajouri Garden — were packed with vehicles on Sunday, Delhi Traffic Police officials said.

People also made their way to the India Gate with family and friends to enjoy the weather, causing jams around the C-Hexagon and adjoining stretches.

“The entire week we were scared of driving because till 8pm the odd-even restrictions applied. Sunday is the only day when we could take our car and go out with our family. The rule is good but it surely has curbed our movement,” said Sunidhi Tiwari, a resident of Dwarka sector-14, who had come to India Gate with her family.

He also said that the slow moving traffic was further affected by vehicles parked along the roads outside monuments, parks and malls.

“The crowd at these places spilled on to the roads and the traffic was affected by the reduced road space,” the official added.