Traffic in several parts of the Capital was badly disrupted for several hours on Monday as it was the last day of filing nominations for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections. A series of demonstrations at Jantar Mantar also brought traffic to a standstill in Central Delhi in the afternoon.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party and several other parties announcing their candidates for the upcoming municipal polls on the last day, all candidates rushed to the designated offices to file their papers. One of the worst-hit places was ITO, where several electoral registration-cum-returning officers accept nomination papers. “Traffic at ITO was moving at a snail's pace and it took me around half an hour to navigate through a four-kilometre stretch,” said advertising professional Anil Singh who was stuck in traffic around 3 p.m.
According to the traffic police, the major areas that were hit by the nomination-filing process were ITO, M. B. Road in Saket, Shamnath Marg and Underhill Lane on Civil Lines. “Additional traffic police personnel and cranes to tow improperly-parked vehicles were pressed into service in these areas,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg.
In the afternoon, the protests at Jantar Mantar also added to the chaos. “I was stuck at the Patel Chowk roundabout for about an hour. Traffic was not moving and the entry to Parliament Street being closed because of the protests and demonstrations only made matters worse,” said Seerat Khanna, who was headed to her bank on Parliament Street at around 12 noon. “Since alternate routes were also choked, it was difficult to find a way to Parliament Street,” added Ms. Khanna.
The commotion continued until evening with the peak hour rush merging with the additional election-related traffic in and around Connaught Place. “The stretch from Janpath roundabout to Mandi House was choc-a-block with traffic. It took me over an hour to cross this stretch, which usually takes not more than 15 minutes,” said bank employee Rajat Singh who was returning home from work around 5-30 p.m.
