Expect snarls near Central and Old Delhi: Traffic police

NEW DELHI: As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gears up for the swearing-in of the new state government at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, the Delhi traffic police warned of traffic snarls across central and Old Delhi.

Senior officers of the traffic police said they expect over 1.5 lakh people to attend Delhi chief minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.

The swearing-in will take place at 12pm.

This means that even though “ample arrangements” have been made for parking, and traffic diversions put in place for the ceremony, long traffic jams can be expected in areas around Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, Delhi Gate, ITO, Connaught Place Outer Circle, and Mandi House.

A traffic advisory issued by the Delhi traffic police said no commercial vehicles or buses will be allowed from Rajghat Chowk and Delhi Gate Chowk towards Guru Nanak Dev Chowk via Jawaharlal Nehru Marg; Chatta Rail towards Delhi Gate Chowk via Netaji Subhash Marg; Paharganj Chowk towards Ajmeri Gate via Desh Bandhu Gupta Road; Ram Charan Aggarwal Chowk towards Delhi Gate Chowk via Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg; Dduminto Road towards Kamla Market Chowk via Vivekanand Marg and Barakhamba Tolstoy towards Ranjit Singh Flyover.

Arrangements for car parking have been made at the Civic Centre and behind it. Buses have to be parked on Mata Sundari Road, Power House Road, Velodrome Road, Rajghat parking, Shanti Van parking and service roads in Rajghat and Samta Sthal as per requirements, the advisory said.

“All our preparations are in place. Restrictions and diversion of vehicles according to the above mentioned plan will be implemented as and when required, depending on the ground situation,” a senior traffic official said.

Delhi police officials also said that keeping the previous two ceremonies in mind, police personnel will also be stationed at gates of nearby Metro station to control any mishap or possibilities of violence among people on their to the ceremony.

This will be the third time Kejriwal and his team of ministers take charge at the Ramlila Maidan. The police estimates show that in 2013 and 2015, over 1.25 lakh people attended the ceremony.