Traffic moved with sluggish pace across key routes in Delhi-NCR ahead of Diwali with festival rush choking major routes across the city on Saturday as shoppers thronged markets for last-minute Diwali purchases.
Several areas in Delhi-NCR, including Laxmi Nagar, Akshardham flyover and Ghazipur witnessed heavy traffic jam. Visuals shared by news agencies ANI and PTI showed traffic snarls and jampacked roads. Traffic snarls have been impacting Delhi roads over the few days now. The festive rush, coupled with motorists ferrying sweets and gifts to relatives and friends and heavy passenger movement around railway stations and bus terminals, caused many roads to be jampacked. Markets in Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and Greater Kailash remained packed with shoppers, adding to the pressure on roads and parking spaces. Amid increased rush ahead of festivals like Diwali, Dhanteras, Chhath Puja and Bhai Dooj, the Delhi Traffic Police advised commuters to follow the diversion routes and avoid unauthorised parking to ensure hassle-free traffic movement.
Markets from Mehrauli’s wholesale flower market to Sarojini Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Sadar Bazaar, and Karol Bagh also witnessed heavy rush on Saturday evening with people from Delhi and adjoining areas ahead of Diwali, which is being celebrated on Sunday, November 8. Key stretches affected included Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Barapullah elevated road, Mathura Road, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Aurobindo Marg, Africa Avenue, Mehrauli-Gurugram Road and NH-48 via Mahipalpur. Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday issued an advisory for Anand Vihar Inter State Bus Terminal and surrounding transport hubs for 10 days, from November 5 to November 15.
As a result, the traffic movement was slow, with vehicles stuck at one place for long periods.
Traffic movement will remain affected on Chaudhary Charan Singh Marg and Swami Dayanand Marg, the police said, as it said that traffic restrictions and diversions will remain in place on Roundabout Ghazipur and Ramprastha, Vivek Vihar. On Friday, Delhi witnessed widespread traffic snarls as shoppers thronged markets across the city, choking arterial roads in south, central and north Delhi. Roads around shopping hubs witnessed heavy congestion on Friday.
