Parts of Delhi witness huge traffic snarls as Bharat Jodo Yatra enters city

Traffic was affected in parts of Delhi on Saturday as the Congress's ''Bharat Jodo Yatra'', led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, entered the city.

Busy road stretches, such as the National Highway 24 at Ghazipur, the ITO intersection and the Ashram chowk, witnessed massive traffic snarls because of the foot march that started from Kanyakumari and entered its 108th day on Saturday.

Vehicular movement was affected in southeast Delhi in the morning hours as the yatris marched into the city, and subsequently, near the India Gate as they resumed their walk after a break in the afternoon.

The traffic police had issued an advisory on Friday, cautioning commuters about the routes that were likely to be affected by the yatra.

The yatra made its morning halt at the Ashram chowk at 11 am. It resumed at 1 pm and headed towards the Red Fort via Mathura Road, India Gate and ITO.

Police put up signboards, requesting the yatris to march on the left side of the road. Vehicles were seen moving at a slow pace due the congestion during the morning phase of the yatra.

Eager to catch a glimpse of Gandhi, a large number of people thronged the roads, tried to occupy the pavements and dividers or wherever they found space.

''It took us an hour and a half to reach Nizamuddin from Ashram,'' said Hemant, an autorickshaw driver who was ferrying passengers to the New Delhi railway station. Usually it takes about 25 minutes to cover the distance, he said.

Another commuter, Amit, said he might miss his train to Ahmedabad. ''You want to take out a yatra, do it, but think of the traffic and the problems people face,'' he said.

Near the Nizamuddin dargah, many passengers were seen carrying their luggage and walking.

One of the commuters, Suman, said no autorickshaw was ready to take the route along which the yatra was proceeding. ''What they tell us is that there are traffic snarls because of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and they will not take that route,'' he said.

Rajkumar, who had to drop his sister at her office, got stuck in the traffic. ''It took us almost two hours to reach Jangpura from Badarpur due to the yatra. There was no proper traffic management,'' he said.

Supriya was out to visit the dargah but decided to go back after seeing the traffic and the crowd. ''It is like madness here,'' she said.

Akshay Singh, who was travelling from Civil Lines to Bhogal, said the Pragati Maidan tunnel was closed due to which traffic was affected.

''Going towards Bhogal, the first issue was the Pragati Maidan tunnel which was closed. Zakir Hussain Marg, near Nizamuddin, also witnessed a huge traffic snarl due to which I wasted more than half an hour,'' he said.

Mohammad Ashraf, who was going towards the Jama Masjid, said, ''There was heavy traffic on Ring Road, near Rajghat, on the carriageway going towards Kashmere Gate. There were massive traffic snarls near the Red Fort. I am trying to find a way to reach home,'' he said.

The traffic advisory had said the yatra will reach the Jai Dev Ashram, near the Ashram chowk, around 10.30 am and will end at the Red Fort around 4.30 pm. A large number of pedestrians and vehicles were expected to join the march at various points along its route, it had said. The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, has covered nine states so far and is scheduled to culminate in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of January.

It has covered around 3,000 kilometres in 46 districts across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.