Kanwarias lead to traffic congestion

It proved to be a day of traffic snarls on many roads in the Capital because of kanwarias. But take heart. You need to bear with them for 2 more days, reports HT Correspondent.

It proved to be a day of traffic snarls on many roads in the Capital and the NCR on Monday because of kanwarias. But take heart. You need to bear with them for two more days.

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Though the government agencies said they could not provide the exact figures, they maintained that the number of kanwarias has increased this year. These pilgrims will be seen on Delhi’s roads till Wednesday, the last day of abhishek.

On Monday, the congestion was on the usual routes that are taken by the kanwarias. The traffic police have identified the left-most lanes on these routes for use by the kanwarias. The kanwarias have vehicles — either light goods vehicles or trucks —along with them that are decorated and converted into ‘raths’. A group of people walk with these.

“It (the raths) has seen an increasing trend this year. These vehicles are big and they cannot be pushed into the dedicated lane. They share road space with other regular commuters. It is a definite cause for congestion,” said DCP Traffic (Southern Range) Rupinder Kumar.

The kanwarias enter the city preferably from the border in the northeast (Apsara, Bhopura and Ghazipur) and after ISBT, walk towards their destination either via Dhaula Kuan or through Aya Nagar border towards Gurgaon.

“(Apparently) Delhi drivers have become smarter. The traffic movement is more or less smooth even with large number of kanwarias,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SN Shrivastava.