Traffic crawls in central Delhi due to diversions for BJP Ramlila Maidan meet
NEWDELHI: TRAFFIC crawled in central Delhi because of restrictions put in place for the BJP’S two-day national council meeting that began on Friday at Ramlila Maidan.
Anticipating traffic congestion on Friday, the traffic police had closed Jawaharlal Nehru Marg from Guru Nanak Chowk to the Kamala Market roundabout.
Though the curbs were put in place to ensure commuters are not caught in jams due to the gathering of supporters around the venue, the move led to traffic snarls on adjoining stretches such as Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Minto Road, ITO intersection, Delhi Gate intersection and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.
“We had deployed additional staff on such roads to direct commuters ,” said Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic).
Congestion was also experienced on Asaf Ali Road, Ranjeet Singh Marg and flyover, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Shraddhananda Marg, the Ajmeri Gate side of New Delhi Railway Station, Vikas Marg and other adjoining roads.
“I was stuck at the ITO intersection for almost 25 minutes. It took me three signals to finally cross the section. There was no information on why there was a holdup,” said Seema Prakash, a commuter.
Traffic officials said roads like the Jhandewalan roundabout on Desh Bandhu Gupta Road towards Ajmeri Gate Chowk, Chaman Lal Marg from Guru Nanak Chowk to Turkman Gate, Asaf Ali road from Hamdard Chowk to Delhi Gate, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg from Delhi Gate to Guru Nanak Chowk, were also intermittently stopped.
SECURITY BLANKET
Around 3,000 personnel from Delhi Police, paramilitary forces, National Security Guards (NSG) and Special Protection Group (SPG) formed a threelayer security cover at Ramlila Maidan. Areas around the venue were declared a no-flying zone. Three separate control rooms were made for monitoring of CCTV cameras. Since prime minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, LK Advani and party veterans attended the event, SPG and NSG commandos formed the innermost security layer around the stage.
Delhi Police’s security wing officials were in the second layer while local police personnel formed the outer layer of the security cover outside the venue.