Now Reading: Festive crowds, VIP moves clog Delhi roads for hours
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Festive crowds, VIP moves clog Delhi roads for hours
The Story in Brief
Traffic across Delhi ground to a halt on Wednesday, 28 October, as festive shopping crowds, VIP movement restrictions and heightened security ahead of protests combined to snarl roads for hours. The worst congestion was on the Outer Ring Road and Ring Road between RK Puram and Sarai Kale Khan, and on Mathura Road from Nizamuddin to the Badarpur border. Barapullah elevated road, Aurobindo Marg, Sardar Patel Marg and India Gate Circle also saw long queues.
A traffic police officer from the southern range said footfall at key markets such as Khan Market, Connaught Place and Lajpat Nagar has risen multifold, and roadside parking is worsening jams around shopping hubs. Multiple VIP movements forced brief vehicle stops at different intersections, according to a New Delhi traffic range officer. Commuters said journeys took nearly twice as long as usual. The congestion has been compounded by the September 29 opening of the Barapullah Phase III, which was intended to improve connectivity but has drawn criticism for causing bottlenecks at merging points.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Roads in the worst-hit stretches, Outer Ring Road, Ring Road and Mathura Road, typically take 15 minutes but ate up well over an hour on Wednesday. The September 29 opening of the Barapullah Phase III, meant to cut travel time, has instead become a bottleneck at merging points. Two distinct pressures converged: the festival surge that packed markets such as Khan Market and Connaught Place with shoppers who then parked on the road, and the security-and-VIP protocol layers that triggered repeated halts at intersections. The single next step named is 1 November, when the Haryana transport department's rule requiring BS-VI, CNG or electric buses to enter Delhi takes effect, it may ease the diesel bus component of the congestion, but the underlying clash of festive footfall, construction and VIP movement has no scheduled resolution.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
