Traffic snarls continued across central and south Delhi on Tuesday, mainly owing to VVIP movements in the city. The visiting Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, gave a speech at Hotel Taj Palace in the morning, followed by a visit to the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the afternoon.
To ensure security for the visiting dignitary, traffic cops closed access to Sardar Patel Marg from Panchsheel Marg and Dhaula Kuan. Sardar Patel Marg, which connects the Chinese Embassy in the diplomatic enclave of New Delhi, is an arterial road connecting west and north Delhi to central Delhi.
'Commuters were also advised to avoid roads near India Gate in the heart of Delhi, because of traffic diversions and barricading, which resulted in long traffic jams,' said a traffic official.
It was chaos on the roads of New Delhi, as police officials restricted vehicular movement around India Gate leading to huge traffic jams in central Delhi, including near ITO, Connaught Place and Mathura Road, among others.
Traffic came to a standstill for several hours at places like the ITO, Parliament Street, India Gate, Jantar Mantar, Raisina Road, Rajpath, Connaught Place, Ring Road, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Sansad Marg. 'All roads leading to C Hexagon in India Gate (near Vijay Chowk), remained closed,' said a police official.
Busy roads like Rafi Marg, Janpath and Man Singh Road was closed to general traffic.
Commuters travelling from Sardar Patel Marg, Ridge Road, Mother Teressa Crescent Road, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital Road witnessed a rush as traffic was diverted to these roads.
Roads leading to India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan were choked with vehicles and traffic was diverted from Ashoka Road, Akbar Road, Janpath Road, Shahjahan Road, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg, Sher Shah Road, K G?Marg, Raisina Road, Rafi Marg and Purana Quilla.
'I was stuck in traffic near Ring Road for two hours. Finally I had to take a different road to work,' says Anil Srivastav, a commuter from Dhaula Kuan. 'I was supposed to go at Connaught Place from Laxmi Nagar. It took an hour to cross the I.T.O. intersection and Yamuna bridge, whereas usually it takes only fifteen minutes everyday', said Rajiv Sharma, another commuter.
Vehicular movement was affected in most parts of the city during peak morning-hour traffic and the chaos continued till the afternoon, causing severe inconvenience to thousands of commuters.
DMRC CLOSES THREE STATIONS FOR AN HOUR
Delhi Metro on Tuesday closed down three stations, including Race Course which is near the Prime Minister's official residence, for over an hour in the morning anticipating protests by Tibetans against Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit.
Race Course, Udyog Bhawan and Central Secretariat metro stations were closed between 11:15 am to 12:30 pm following instructions from Delhi police, a DMRC spokesperson said.
However, interchange facility was available at Central Secretariat, the spokesperson said.
On Monday, four stations around the India Gate were shut down for 2 hours between 8am to 10 am.
To ensure security for the visiting dignitary, traffic cops closed access to Sardar Patel Marg from Panchsheel Marg and Dhaula Kuan. Sardar Patel Marg, which connects the Chinese Embassy in the diplomatic enclave of New Delhi, is an arterial road connecting west and north Delhi to central Delhi.
'Commuters were also advised to avoid roads near India Gate in the heart of Delhi, because of traffic diversions and barricading, which resulted in long traffic jams,' said a traffic official.
It was chaos on the roads of New Delhi, as police officials restricted vehicular movement around India Gate leading to huge traffic jams in central Delhi, including near ITO, Connaught Place and Mathura Road, among others.
Traffic came to a standstill for several hours at places like the ITO, Parliament Street, India Gate, Jantar Mantar, Raisina Road, Rajpath, Connaught Place, Ring Road, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Sansad Marg. 'All roads leading to C Hexagon in India Gate (near Vijay Chowk), remained closed,' said a police official.
Busy roads like Rafi Marg, Janpath and Man Singh Road was closed to general traffic.
Commuters travelling from Sardar Patel Marg, Ridge Road, Mother Teressa Crescent Road, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital Road witnessed a rush as traffic was diverted to these roads.
Roads leading to India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan were choked with vehicles and traffic was diverted from Ashoka Road, Akbar Road, Janpath Road, Shahjahan Road, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg, Sher Shah Road, K G?Marg, Raisina Road, Rafi Marg and Purana Quilla.
'I was stuck in traffic near Ring Road for two hours. Finally I had to take a different road to work,' says Anil Srivastav, a commuter from Dhaula Kuan. 'I was supposed to go at Connaught Place from Laxmi Nagar. It took an hour to cross the I.T.O. intersection and Yamuna bridge, whereas usually it takes only fifteen minutes everyday', said Rajiv Sharma, another commuter.
Vehicular movement was affected in most parts of the city during peak morning-hour traffic and the chaos continued till the afternoon, causing severe inconvenience to thousands of commuters.
DMRC CLOSES THREE STATIONS FOR AN HOUR
Delhi Metro on Tuesday closed down three stations, including Race Course which is near the Prime Minister's official residence, for over an hour in the morning anticipating protests by Tibetans against Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit.
Race Course, Udyog Bhawan and Central Secretariat metro stations were closed between 11:15 am to 12:30 pm following instructions from Delhi police, a DMRC spokesperson said.
However, interchange facility was available at Central Secretariat, the spokesperson said.
On Monday, four stations around the India Gate were shut down for 2 hours between 8am to 10 am.