Festive rush chokes markets, roads ahead of Diwali, commuters face massive jams

New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) As Delhi gears up for Diwali, city's roads turned into a gridlock on Wednesday with heavy congestion reported from many parts of the city, leaving commuters stuck for hours.

Long snarls were reported in central, south, east, northwest, outer and outernorth Delhi, with several stretches witnessing bumper-to-bumper traffic for over half an hour.

"The heavy traffic is a result of the festive rush and people returning back to the city for the holidays," a senior police officer said.

Several commuters shared pictures of traffic jams on social media platforms. Complaints poured from people stuck for hours as the festive rush combined with office-hour movement brought the capital to a crawl.

"Delhi's traffic is unbelievable, I've been stuck on Wazirabad Road for the past 37 minutes!" a netizen posted.

"Every road in south Delhi is jammed today. Driving virtually on first gear for an hour now," another wrote.

A commuter heading to Gurugram said they had to postpone a meeting three times because of traffic. "Had a meeting around 12, then shifted it to 12.30, then 1.30, and just now to 2 o'clock," they said.

Traffic around Shantipath in central Delhi was blocked for nearly 30 minutes, while the Lutyens zone and stretches towards Gurugram were heavily clogged. Vehicles crawled through most of the day, with some roads witnessing near standstills.

In south Delhi, a long jam at Moolchand traffic light stretched for almost a kilometre for those coming from Greater Kailash. Congestion was also reported near Pragati Maidan and along Mathura Road towards east Delhi, with commuters calling it “completely packed”.

Traffic was slow on several key routes including Mother Teresa Crescent, Panchkuian Marg, Connaught Circle, Vande Mataram Marg, Loni Road, Hanuman Road and SRP Bismil Marg.

Congestion was also reported on Lala Hardev Sahai Marg, GT Karnal Road, Raj Niwas Marg, Roshanara Road near Ghanta Ghar Chowk, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Baba Kharak Singh Road and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Road.

In northwest Delhi, heavy jams were seen near Netaji Subhash Place, Madhuban Chowk in Pitampura, with long slow-moving stretches on the Outer Ring Road. Movement was sluggish through connecting roads in Wazirpur and Azadpur as well.

In southeast Delhi, a long queue of vehicles was seen near Tikona Park close to Jamia Millia Islamia, while a 25-minute pile-up was reported on the flyover on NH-48 for those heading from Delhi to Gurugram.

"Stuck in traffic for hours, now it feels like the festive season is here,” another commuter remarked, summing up the chaos of the day. PTI SGV NB