Traffic jams mostly on Delhi periphery, barricades stay
Some key stretches near Singhu and Tikri borders reported snarls during morning and evening peak hours
Vehicular movement in the Capital, especially in central and south Delhi, was significantly better on Wednesday compared to the serpentine traffic jams throughout Tuesday, despite no changes in the deployment of security personnel and barricading.
While there were fewer traffic congestions within the city, some key stretches near Singhu and Tikri borders reported snarls during morning and evening peak hours.
“The farmers were scheduled to reach Delhi on Tuesday. Although the protesting farmers were contained at the Punjab-Haryana borders, we received inputs that some political and non-political groups in small numbers may march to central Delhi. Accordingly, instructions were issued to put barricades at strategic locations in the city and intensify the checking of vehicles. The arrangements disrupted vehicular movement and caused bottleneck congestion on roads leading to the police pickets. As commuters used alternate routes to avoid traffic snarls, the volume of traffic increased on those roads as well,” said a senior traffic police officer.
On Wednesday, security arrangements remained in place at key borders like Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, as well as within the city limits. However, police moved some of the barricading to the edge of the roads, providing sufficient space for vehicular movement, while also checking fewer vehicles.
“Barricades and blockages are still on roads but they are placed in a way that they are not disrupting the flow of vehicles. I hope the situation remains the same in the coming days,” said Anurag Sinha, who was driving towards Connaught Place via ITO.
Outer Delhi was severely congested on Wednesday in areas touching Grand Trunk Road as the Delhi Police diverted traffic going towards Mukarba Chowk to arterial roads crossing Bakhtawarpur in the afternoon.
Kripa Sahni, 35, who was going to Burari from Narela, said: “I have been stuck on this long stretch inside the village for over an hour and the GPS is still showing an hour from here. There is no management. If they had to divert traffic, they should also have deployed to manage it,” she said.
On Tuesday, Nangloi Road, Paschim Vihar Road, Baba Ramdev Marg, and Rohtak Road witnessed hour-long traffic congestion as the Tikri border was sealed in the afternoon. However, on Wednesday, the roads only faced a 15-20 minute lag in traffic movement. An officer said: “All the traffic was smoothly diverted to Nangloi Najafgarh Road, Jhajjar Road, Dhansa border, etc. Earlier, we thought the commuters were confused but now people know which diversions to take.”
In Gurugram too, vehicles moved more easily on Wednesday compared to Tuesday. “We are in continuous touch with Delhi Police officials, our headquarters and neighboring districts for situational awareness,” said assistant commissioner of police (crime), Varun Dahiya.
Meanwhile, the Faridabad Traffic Police issued a traffic advisory on Wednesday urging commuters travelling to Palwal and Mathura to use alternative routes by taking NH 19 to reach Kailey Bypass, Chhainsa Road and hop on to KGP expressway or take Mohna and Alawalpur village roads.
Those coming towards Faridabad could use the KGP expressway, Chhainsa cut, Ateli, or IMT Chowk to finally get on Faridabad Bypass road. For movement towards Delhi from Faridabad, commuters could take the Badwal flyover from NH19 to get on Surajkund Road and then the Prahladpur border road. Traffic from Noida and Delhi can turn from Kalindi Kunj to reach Sehatpur bridge, canal road to finally reach Faridabad, traffic police said.
(With inputs from Hemani Bhandari and Jignasa Sinha)