The Hindu : Front Page : Capital caught in an endless jam

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Friday, Jan 05, 2007
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Front Page

Capital caught in an endless jam

Staff Reporter

IN A JAM: The state of affairs at Connaught Place in the heart of the Capital on Thursday. - PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

NEW DELHI: Lakhs of motorists and pedestrians had a harrowing time on the Capital's roads on Thursday as a religious procession to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh wound its way through some of the busiest parts of New Delhi. The procession -- which took a circuitous five-kilometre route from Gurdwara Rakab Ganj to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, barely a kilometre away -- brought all traffic in the area to a standstill.

Apart from many office-goers who got late to their work place in the morning, thousands of people were stuck in huge traffic jams around Central Secretariat and Connaught Place until late in the evening. Vehicular traffic on Rafi Marg, Ashok Road and Punchkuian Road was chock-a-block. The roundabouts at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Gole Dak Khana, Patel Chowk, Windsor Place, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Mandi House and Gole Market witnessed major traffic jams throughout the day.

Though the traffic police had issued an advisory asking motorists to avoid certain stretches leading to the route of the procession, there was utter chaos on the roads with nowhere to go. Almost all crossings had traffic personnel manning them, but even that did not help as the entry and exit of vehicles was slowed down due to the diversions.

"The police had asked us to take alternative routes which meant that you have to travel five kilometres extra to get to your destination. It is certainly not a feasible option, especially when you want to reach somewhere on time," rued Ankita Bajaj, a South Delhi resident travelling to her work place on Barakhamba Road. Curtailments in bus routes because of the procession saw harried commuters walking long distances to board a bus.

"I took a bus for Connaught Place but it dropped me at Jhandewalan. I was clueless about where to go, as I do not know the city very well. The auto-rickshaw driver charged me a fortune for taking me to my office at ITO. I was late by an hour," complained Neha Nath, who has her office on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.

Those who thought they had managed to avoid all the traffic by taking the Metro Rail had to put up with overcrowded compartments in the trains that were running houseful.

There being no movement of vehicles for long durations, many wondered if the conduct of such long processions could not be handled by the traffic police in a more people-friendly manner.

``This area has a number of hospitals such as Lohia and Sucheta Kripalani and so situations in which the lives of critically ill patients are put at stake should be avoided,'' said S. Puri, a senior official with a financial company in Connaught Place.

Many other harried citizens demanded an immediate end to the practice of permitting processions of all sorts to be taken out on the Capital's roads day in and day out.

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