Delhi driving at snail’s pace

Delhi crawled again — for the third straight day — on Friday thanks to the auto expo being held at Pragati Maidan and the construction work taking place in Connaught Place.

Delhi crawled again — for the third straight day — on Friday thanks to the auto expo being held at Pragati Maidan and the construction work taking place in Connaught Place (CP).

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Bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported on most Delhi roads, forcing many commuters to abandon buses and autos and walk long distances to reach their destinations.

On Friday morning, traffic came to a screeching halt on Ring Road in south Delhi as a truck overturned.

The jam stretched to the DND flyway, the road connecting Noida and South Delhi, and Sarai Kale Khan and also disrupted movement of vehicles on most south Delhi roads.

The situation on the DND tollway was no better with residents of Noida, Greater Noida and Indirapuram stuck on the highway for over three hours.

“It took me almost two and a half hours to reach my CP office. The entire NH24, the Ring Road and the radial roads of Connaught Place were clogged,” said Shruti Saleskar, an Indirapuram resident.

The traffic police admitted traffic was heavy on roads around Pragati Maidan. Senior officers, however, said there had been a slight improvement in the traffic movement along the CP outer circle.

“We are meeting senior NDMC officials and hopefully a solution will be reached. Things will definitely stabilise in two-three days,” said Ajay Chaddha, special commissioner of police (traffic).