Commuters had a tough time battling traffic jams on the roads on Monday on account of restrictions put in place in different parts of the Capital for the two-day visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Though there were reports of heavy traffic from different parts of the city, traffic in and around Dhaula Kuan was the worst hit on account of closure of Sardar Patel Marg for almost 48 hours till May 21 afternoon. “I had to attend an important meeting at Connaught Place at 5 p.m., but due to traffic snarls at Dhaula Kuan I missed it. Though I had reached Dhaula Kuan from Gurgaon in just 20 minutes, I remained stuck there for more than 40 minutes moving just a few hundred meters. Traffic was just crawling,” said Sandeep Hooda, a Gurgaon Sector 4 resident.
John K, an IT professional, had a similar experience. “I was driving towards Central Delhi from trans-Yamuna taking the usual Vikas Marg, but I was forced to take a long detour to reach my office,” said Mr. John.
A few of the commuters also complained about lack of proper directions for alternative routes and the absence of policemen to manage the traffic leading to snarls. Harassed commuters even began to post comments about the traffic situation on social networking sites.
Facbook and Twitter were abuzz with comments that ranged from angry reactions to helpful directions to avoid barricaded areas.
The traffic situation was further worsened by the closure of four metro stations in Central Delhi as it forced more and more people to use private vehicles.
