Delhi traffic gridlock: Opposition march cripples city roads
Bumper-to-bumper traffic brought several stretches of central Delhi to a crawl on Monday, with commuters reporting hours-long delays as protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar intensified and Opposition parties held a march to the Supreme Court.
Visuals from central Delhi showed long queues of vehicles moving at a snail’s pace, with cars, buses and two-wheelers packed along major roads. Commuters struggled to navigate congested stretches as traffic piled up around key junctions, with several motorists taking to social media to complain about being stranded for hours.
In other visuals, vehicles were seen queued near Mandi House, Tilak Marg, Copernicus Marg, and the India Gate C-Hexagon, with traffic moving slowly as barricades and police personnel remained deployed in the area.
Traffic congestion was reported from several parts of central Delhi, including Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, Mathura Road, Ferozeshah Road, KG Marg, Ashoka Road, Bhagwan Das Road, Tilak Marg, Copernicus Marg, India Gate C-Hexagon, Rani Jhansi Road, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Connaught Place’s inner circle, Minto Road, Asaf Ali Road, Akbar Road, ITO and Indraprastha Marg.
The traffic snarls came as opposition parties attempted to march towards the Supreme Court amid heavy police deployment and detentions.
Several social media users attributed the congestion to the ongoing protests, with commuters also flagging the impact of diversions. The congestion triggered widespread frustration among commuters, with several taking to social media to criticise traffic management and express concern over the inconvenience caused to city commuters.
“Delhi Traffic Police has downright failed. It is shameful for both police and political parties. People are suffering for hours in traffic for no reason,” a social media user said.
“I have been stuck in traffic for two-and-a-half hours. What is going on in the city?” another user posted.
Other commuters said the congestion has disrupted their daily schedules, with some reporting difficulties reaching their destinations despite leaving well in advance.
Several users said the impact of traffic diversions was being felt beyond central Delhi, with vehicles being rerouted to alternative roads, adding to congestion on adjoining stretches. They urged authorities to manage diversions more effectively and provide timely updates to commuters.
The Delhi Traffic Police advised commuters to use Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Mathura Road as alternative routes to avoid Copernicus Marg and Tilak Marg, respectively.
In an earlier advisory, the traffic police had warned of possible restrictions and diversions at several major junctions and road stretches across the Capital in view of the ongoing protests.
The advisory listed Panchkuian and Mandi House roundabouts, Dr Dinesh Nandini Dalmia Chowk (W-Point), Ram Charan Aggarwal Chowk (A-Point), Minto Road, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, Guru Nanak Chowk and the Connaught Place outer circle-Barakhamba Road T-point among locations where diversions could be enforced.
Other identified stretches included Chelmsford Road near Connaught Place outer circle, Bharion Road-MGM Ring Road T-point, Lodhi Road flyover, Neela Gumbad roundabout, Sardar Patel Marg-Panchsheel Marg crossing, Bhikaji Cama Place and areas under the Moti Bagh flyover.
The advisory mentioned possible traffic restrictions at the Ring Road-San Martin Marg T-point, Ashoka Road-Jantar Mantar roundabout, Jai Singh Road-Sansad Marg crossing, Jai Singh Road-Ashoka Road T-point and at Patel Chowk, Rail Bhawan and RML Hospital roundabouts.
Police advised motorists to avoid non-essential travel through affected areas, follow diversion signs and instructions issued by traffic personnel, and allow additional time for their journeys. Commuters travelling to railway stations, interstate bus terminals and the airport through New Delhi and central Delhi were also advised to factor in sufficient extra travel time.
The traffic police said diversions would be implemented depending on the prevailing law-and-order situation and real-time ground conditions, and urged commuters to follow its social media channels for updates.
Opposition parties had announced a march towards the Supreme Court on Monday to demand resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Protests over the weekend saw thousands of people, including leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party and former chief ministers, being detained by police. The demonstrations continued on Monday, with security personnel deployed at several locations to prevent protesters from moving beyond barricades.
