Outside Moet’s in CP, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hosted INDIA leaders for lunch, cars barely moved. Further towards Rajghat, barricades and parked vehicles squeezed the Ring Road into a narrower carriageway. New Delhi: From Connaught Place to Rajghat, central Delhi turned into a slow-moving maze on Thursday as the INDIA bloc’s mobilisation sent traffic spilling across some of the city’s busiest roads.
“It may be a regular Thursday in CP, but today driving through the heart of Delhi feels less like a commute and more like navigating a protest site,” one posted. Traffic police said movement of buses and heavy vehicles, including HGVs, would remain restricted until 10pm at Chatta Rail towards NS Marg/Red Fort, NS Marg-Subhash T-Point towards Delhi Gate and Shanti Van Chowk towards Ring Road/Rajghat. Police personnel were deployed across the central Delhi stretches, with CAPF personnel also positioned at several points as the protestors moved through the city. Barricades went up at key junctions and police used speaker-mounted vehicles to make announcements. Near Moet’s, motorists trying to enter the commercial hub were funnelled through gaps between barricades and police personnel, while those trying to leave faced the same stop-start crawl. Buses, cars and autos were packed bumper to bumper, with drivers edging forward and then braking again as they came up against the next restriction. The disruption also left parents worried about schoolchildren caught in the gridlock. “Request to look into traffic situation around CP as students are stuck in traffic jam. Students of St Columba’s & CJM especially. Not sure how safe it is for students to be on road,” one person posted. Another posted that children in a school bus had been stuck for nearly an hour. Commuters continued documenting the ordeal online. Another complained that the disruption was affecting local businesses. Buses were also hit as restrictions were imposed around Rajghat.