Diwali-eve festival rush slows down city roads

NEW DELHI: Due to Diwali rush, traffic congestion were reported from various parts of the Capital on Wednesday. People were out for last moment shopping and huge rush was seen at various malls, markets and shopping complexes.

The heavy rush also kept the traffic police on toes and cops were seen on the roads maintaining the traffic. The Delhi Police senior officials already urged the traffic police to be vigilant as the days around the Diwali would be demanding. Traffic Jam was reported from Ashram, Pankha Road, Dwarka sector 2, Meera bagh towards Peeragarhi, NH 24 , Kirari and several other places in Delhi. "Traffic will remain heavy around ISBT Kashmere Gate and ISBT Anand Vihar due to heavy movement of pedestrian," tweeted Delhi Traffic Police.

Traffic also remained heavy from Laxmi Nagar towards Nirman Vihar (both carriageway) due to large number of people out for shopping. Traffic was also heavy near Ghazipur flower market (both carriageway) due to festive season. The traffic police had to request people to avoid the stretch.

The Delhi Police made special arrangements to ensure smooth traffic in the festive season, however, people did resort to twitter to complain about congestion. One Siddharth Tanwar in a tweet said, "Massive Traffic Jam at Pankha road flyover from D block Janak Puri red light. Near Hanuman Mandir, no traffic Cops there." A motorist Abhay cautioned people not to use NH24 die to heavy rush.

Massive jam was reported on Peeragarhi and Paschim Vihar red light by the commuters. Also, heavy traffic jam was reported at Mayur Vihar phase 3, near Khora. "MG road from Gurugram to Delhi choked, please regulate traffic better," tweeted one Ritika.

Moreover, some break down of DTC buses also added to the woes.

"We have deployed maximum staff on roads for traffic regulation and facilitation. Traffic staff, are on the roads to ensure the smooth flow of traffic," said Dependra Pathak, special commissioner of police (Traffic) and chief spokesperson, Delhi Police.