New Delhi

Massive traffic jams in city

Staff Reporter

Six-hour-long procession leaves thousands stranded

CHAOS ON ROADS: The scene in the Capital on Thursday evening due to a procession on the occasion of Guru Teg Bahadur martyrdom day . - PHOTO: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

NEW DELHI: Life came to a standstill on the Capital's roads for hours on Thursday evening due to a huge procession in the area that coincided with the evening rush hour. As a result, thousands of people were stranded for hours. At many of the roundabouts and crossings there was not a single Traffic Police man in sight.

The six-hour-long procession to mark the Guru Teg Bahadur martyrdom day began in the afternoon from Gurdwara Sis Ganj at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi and culminated at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj in the NDMC area. Till the time it reached its destination well past 7 p.m. passing through Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, there were massive traffic jams all over with roads chock-a-block with vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

As the procession consisting of "Palki Sahib", bands, "gatka" and other choir parties took a very long and unwinding route through some of the most congested parts of Delhi, it led to complete choking of vehicular movement all around. Passing through Chandni Chowk, Nai Sarak, Chawri Bazar, Ajmeri Gate, Paharganj, Chuna Mandi, Panchkuian Road, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Pandit Pant Marg, it terminated at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj.

The main roads and localities affected by the procession and jam included the main artery of the VVIP NDMC area, Ashoka Road, Parliament Street, India Gate roundabout, Tilak Marg, Talkatora Road, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Rafi Marg, Pandit Pant Marg, Mandir Marg, Minto Road, Connaught Place, Mother Teresa Road, Willingdon Crescent, Shankar Road, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Janpath, Barakhamba Road, Sardar Patel Marg, Ferozeshah Road, Tolstoy Marg, ITO, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Mathura Road and Panchkuian Road.

The situation was so bad that many of those working around Parliament Street parked their vehicles in and around Connaught Place and took the Metro train to Patel Chowk or Central Secretariat. "The Metro came to my rescue today. Or else I would have been stuck with my car in the traffic for hours," said a much-relieved Krishna Kumar, an MNC executive, adding that it was high time the Government formulated a policy to save people from such recurring harassment.

As the traffic either stood standstill or crawled in Lutyens' Delhi, many preferred to walk miles to reach their destinations. An employee of a private firm working at a Parliament Street office said: "After being caught in the jam near Panchkuian Road for an hour, I had no option but to leave the auto-rickshaw and walk all the way from Mandir Marg. At least this way I managed to do my work for the day."

Though the traffic police had issued an advisory urging motorists to avoid the procession routes, it was clearly not enough. The impact of the procession was felt far and wide. And the problem was compounded in the evening when the rush-hour traffic had to encounter the movement of both the procession as well as the crowds that had gathered at Pragati Maidan for the annual trade fair.

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