Traffic snarls in parts of Delhi due to New Year's rush

NEW DELHI: The first evening of the New Year brought back the memories of the same day last year with traffic chaos and overcrowding in and around the Luteyns's Zone on Tuesday.

The massive rush during evening hours prompted the Delhi Metro administration to shut exits of four Metro stations with proximity to India Gate.

"As per instructions received from the Delhi Police, exits at four stations - Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhavan, Mandi House and Pragati Maidan metro stations -have been blocked with immediate effect due to the swelling crowd," a senior DMRC official said. "A huge crowd has assembled at many public places. And, we have shut exits at these four stations, as per police's instructions, to control the outflow of the crowd. However, entry of commuters at these four stations are allowed," he added.

Given the massive rush of people near the India Gate, Delhi Police put restrictions on the movement of traffic. According to an estimate, more than one lakh people gathered around India Gate.

According to the Delhi Traffic Police, traffic movement had been closed from Regal Cinema towards Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Sansad Marg towards Outer Circle Connaught Place due to a large number of pedestrians movement on the road.

There was high traffic congestion on Mathura Road near National Zoological Park. The Delhi Police also issued an advisory asking people to not to visit the Delhi zoo after 4 pm due to massive rush.

Traffic police had to divert traffic from Bhairon Road and Lodhi flyover to avoid bunching up.

Limited parking space was available near Connaught Place on first come first serve basis. Unauthorised parked vehicles were either towed away or prosecuted, as per the traffic police instructions.