NEW DELHI: The festival rush led to traffic jams in several parts of Delhi on Friday. Even as traffic police made arrangements to minimise inconvenience to motorists, social media was rife with tales of commuting woes. Officials said the heavy vehicular movement was due to pre-Diwali shopping excursions and people leaving the city and expected the roads to remain as clogged on the weekend. Traffic police received as many as 42 calls about traffic jams from different parts of the city. Most reported congestion at Dhaula Kuan, Naraina, Palam, Dwarka, Khajuri Khas, Mangolpuri, Kanjhawala and Karala. Throughout the day, Delhi Traffic Police cautioned drivers about the congestion points on social media, though this appeared not to have helped, with the movement of people and vehicles affected overall. A commuter tweeted that it took her over two hours to reach Mayur Vihar from Gurgaon, a trip she usually did in around an hour. She said she was not even travelling at the peak hours on Friday but took double the usual time. Another commuter said he remained stuck in heavy traffic near Dhaula Kuan for half an hour while going from IGI Airport to Noida and then again near Akshardham for another 30 minutes. A video was also in circulation on social media in which an ambulance was seen stalled by the traffic on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway at Sarhaul border. Vehicles crawled ahead in the Pragati Maidan tunnel in central Delhi. Delhi Police employed social media platforms to update commuters about the road situations and shared real-time traffic updates to alert motorists. Other stretches that witnessed heavy traffic were ITO, Kohat Enclave, Jasola and Kalindi Kunj. Some airlines also tweeted alerts asking their passengers to consider the heavy traffic when driving to the airport. Vistara Airlines tweeted, “Vistara @airvistara #TravelUpdate: Heavy traffic congestion is expected in areas of Delhi today. Customers traveling are advised to allow more time for their journey to the airport.”
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/in-a-tight-spot-in-delhi-diwali-rush-reduces-traffic-to-a-crawl/articleshow/95019332.cms