Muharram restrictions, weekend rush hit traffic

NEW DELHI: Roads across Delhi were choked on Friday evening as Delhi Traffic Police put in place restrictions for the movement of Muharram processions.

The weekend rush aggravated the traffic snarls, especially around central Delhi, traffic police said.

Senior traffic officials said traffic was diverted on various roads. A tazia procession started from Chhatta Shahzad in Kalan Mahal and passed through Pahari Bhojla, Matia Mahal Chowk, Jama Masjid, Chawri Bazar, Chowk Hauz Qazi, New Delhi railway station, Chelmsford Road, Connaught Place, Outer circle, Parliament Street, Raisina Road, Vijay Chowk, Krishna Menon Marg and reached Karbala around 6 pm.

Another procession started from Pahari Dhiraj in north Delhi around 1pm and reached Paharganj Bridge via Qutab Road to merge with the main procession at Chelmsford Road.

Officials said traffic movement was not affected much due to the processions in the day, but in the evening hours, the weekend rush on the roads shot up.

Processions from Nizamuddin, Okhla and Mehrauli also joined with the gathering at Karbala. At 9am, the ‘Alam and Taboot’ procession was also taken out from Jama Masjid, which terminated at Panja Sharif at Kashmere Gate around 4 pm due to which traffic movement was closed along the route.

“Traffic was slow and there was traffic congestion along the procession routes and adjoining roads. However, we were keeping commuters informed about the movement of the processions from time to time through our social media accounts,” Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said.

After 5pm, the India Gate roundabout (C-hexagon) and the radial roads were packed with traffic. Traffic around Connaught Place, Mandi House, Pragati Maidan, Bhairon Marg and ITO was also severely hit.