Dhanteras rush triggers traffic jams

Vehicles crawled on the Capital's streets as shoppers converged at popular market places to celebrate Dhanteras on Sunday.

Vehicles crawled on the Capital's streets as shoppers converged at popular market places to celebrate Dhanteras on Sunday.

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While commuters complained of having experienced gridlocks on almost every arterial stretch, traffic police said vehicular movement was reported to have been heavy near market places but no major jams had been brought to their notice.

"Heavy traffic was reported from Karol Bagh area - especially on Desh Bandhu Gupta (DBG) Road, from Lajwanti Chowk, Rohini's Sectors 6 and 7 as well as from Tilak Nagar to the Janakpuri District Centre," said an officer.

Police claimed extra deployment near south Delhi malls and popular markets such as Greater Kailash and Sarojini Nagar helped them keep the situation "under control". But commuters begged to differ.

"I simply wanted to take a U-turn at the Avantika Chowk after having gone to the neighbourhood vegetable market but got stuck in traffic for over 20 minutes. There were no traffic cops in Rohini despite the police being aware of the rush on weekends. Proper arrangements should have been in place to manage traffic in view of Dhanteras," said Ramesh Verma, 35, a businessman from Saraswati Vihar.