Traffic police cancel leaves as pre-Diwali rush brings city rds to a crawl

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s roads came to a standstill on Thursday amid the pre-Diwali rush, prompting the police to cancel leaves of all traffic personnel. Major intersections and market areas, including Chandni Chowk, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, and Karol Bagh, witnessed severe gridlocks, with travel times doubling on key routes. Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ajay Chaudhary said maximum deployment, including personnel on motorcycles, had been made to manage the rush.

Commuters reported slow movement across central, south, east, northwest, outer and outer-north Delhi, with jams on Connaught Place, Rajpath, ITO, KG Marg, Vikas Marg, and NH-48. Social media was flooded with complaints, some noting that even VIP zones were heavily congested.