Office-goers suffer as protesters lay siege to New Delhi, trigger massive traffic jams

Missed meetings, delayed appointments and high tempers defined Monday for many office-goers in Central Delhi. The trouble was caused by standstill traffic that built up on several stretches in New Delhi after three different protests meant to take place at Jantar Mantar spilled on to the roads.

Massive jams were witnessed on roads such as the Tolstoy Marg, Janpath, KG Marg, Barakhamba Road, Mandi House and Ashoka Road, among others. The police had to temporarily shut Sansad Marg for traffic to bring the situation under control.

The longest procession was carried out by employees of the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union. Over 3,000 of them staged a protest march against the Arvind Kejriwal government demanding higher salaries. They marched from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic for at least four hours.

“There were at least four traffic officials at Tolstoy Marg and KG Marg junction but their efforts went in vain. I was stuck at Tolstoy Marg for nearly an hour,” said Rakhi Sharma, a media professional.

The police had not anticipated such a large turnout of anganwadi workers. BK Singh, DCP (New Delhi), said the anganwadi workers had not sought permission for the march. “The jams were caused as the protesters moved in many small batches, blocking multiple stretches of roads. The traffic jams built on after that,” said the DCP.

The local police also had to deal with a group of protesting teachers marching from Jantar Mantar to Parliament. But they were stopped at the Parliament Street police station.

Around the same time, a group of UPSC aspirants tried to march towards Parliament from the Rail Bhawan roundabout. They were stopped at the Raisina Road, but not before they caused a massive jam on the connecting roads.

The crawling traffic had a ripple effect in Connaught Place where vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace. The protests also created snarls at India Gate’s C-Hexagon.

“Traffic is heavy at C-Hexagon and its connecting/surrounding roads due to law and order arrangement,” the traffic police said in a tweet as they faced a barrage of complaints from commuters visiting or passing through Lutyens’ Delhi.