Heavy traffic jams returned to haunt the national Capital on the first weekday post the fortnight-long odd-even vehicular restrictions, which had reduced congestion considerably, as severe snarls were witnessed on Monday at major arterial roads across the city.
Areas like Chirag Dilli, Vasant Kunj, Chhatarpur, Greater Kailash and the BRT Corridor were majorly hit during the peak hours of Monday morning. Bumper-to-bumper traffic was seen in the New Delhi region, especially around the India Gate C-Hexagon.
Major roads in North, West and East Delhi were also in a chock-a-block condition, giving a harrowing time to commuters as both odd and even numbered private cars returned to the streets.
Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander said: “Heavy traffic in New Delhi region was caused by the blocking of a particular stretch on Rajpath for full-dress rehearsal for the upcoming Republic Day celebrations.”
“In other cases, adequate personnel were deployed to ensure smooth traffic flow as and when we received information about severe congestion,” he added.
Traffic snarls considerably slowed down vehicular movement in Dhaula Kuan, S P Marg, Dwarka, South Extension, Laxmi Nagar and roads around the Akshardham temple.
In the wake of the vehicle-rationing measures from January 1-15, when private cars bearing odd and even numbered registration plates plied on alternate days, the national Capital saw drastic cuts in traffic volume. The city government projected this to be the biggest outcome of the vehicular restrictions which they termed a massive success and had also claimed that pollution levels had come down by around 25 per cent.
On Monday, the air quality oscillated between moderate to very poor with the average quantity of fine respirable pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 recorded at 152 and 238 micrograms per cubic metre respectively.
By the time the situation in New Delhi and South Delhi eased, traffic was thrown out of gear at other areas which include Dwarka underpass, Khanpur, Panchsheel, Mehrauli-Badarpur road, Sangam Vihar and NH-8, the traffic official said.