There was total chaos on the roads of the national Capital on Tuesday as traffic in the city was brought to a standstill due to numerous protests being held in different areas.
While on one hand, students from different universities in Delhi blocked traffic at ITO as they raised slogans against alleged police brutality outside Delhi Police headquarters; on the other hand the ongoing strike by municipal employees completely choked the city’s roads as they held a protest march from the Civic Centre to Rajghat, in the process blocking traffic at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Asaf Ali Road, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Outer Ring Road, ITO and adjoining roads.
To add to the woes of Delhiites, protesting sanitation workers in East Delhi and North Delhi also created chaos by dumping mounds of garbage on the roads, thereby obstructing traffic flow.
According to the Traffic Police, there were traffic snarls right from UP link Road to Ghazipur Flyover due to demonstrations by municipal workers near Khichri Pur. Heavy traffic jams were also witnessed at Rajpur Road, Boulevard Road and MCD Chowk due to demonstrations by civic workers in front of Old Police lines behind the lieutenant-Governor’s house.
So bad was the traffic situation that it took more than an hour for commuters to cover just a few kilometres. Commuters also complained of long waits at traffic signals at ITO intersection as police tried their best to regulate traffic.
“I was stuck at ITO red light for more than an hour,” complained Shivani Gupta, who just had to go till Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
“I could have walked to my office and it would have taken only five minutes. Instead, I was stuck in my car for over an hour waiting for the signal to turn green. If only I could have abandoned my car and just walked, I won’t have been so late to work,” she rued.
Another protest by the joint front of municipal unions along with thousands of civic employees under the leadership of former MlA Jai Kishan was also held at Najafgarh Zone office where the protesters burned effigies of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi causing obstruction to the flow of traffic. The protest led to traffic snarls in nearby areas of Outer Delhi as well.
The whole Sansad Marg was blocked due to the demonstration by JNU students at around 2 pm in the afternoon. “Obstruction in traffic at IP Chowk due to demonstration by JNU students… Sansad Marg has been closed due to demonstration. Kindly avoid the stretch,” Delhi Traffic Police advised on its official Facebook page.
Meanwhile, Delhi Gate Chowk was completely blocked by MCD workers who took out a protest march from Civic Centre to Rajghat carrying begging bowls in their hands.
Due to the protests, the traffic was thrown out of gear in nearby areas as well. In some places, bumper to bumper traffic stretched for more than a kilometer. It was only a matter of time that long tailbacks were witnessed on all roads passing through ITO intersection and IP Chowk.
Commuters complained of long tailbacks at Vikas Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Tilak Marg, Mathura Road, Sikandra Road, Barakhamba Road, Firoz Shah Road, Purana Qila Road, Asaf Ali Road etc. Ring Road, Barapullah Elevated Road, Outer Ring Road and DND Flyway towards Delhi also witnessed long traffic snarls.