New Delhi | Traffic at several stretches of central Delhi crawled on Monday, with commuters stuck for hours while covering just a few kilometres as the Cockroach Janata Party staged a protest and Parliament's Monsoon Session began.
This comes as thousands of protesters gathered near Parliament Street here and tried to march towards Parliament to demand accountability over alleged examination irregularities and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, braving lathicharge by security personnel.
Several roads in and around New Delhi experienced heavy traffic, with commuters reporting prolonged delays and slow-moving vehicles.
The traffic situation further slowed down as the Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha also began on Monday, prompting increased vehicular movement and traffic restrictions in the New Delhi range.
"I was stuck in the traffic for at least three hours while moving from Krishna Menon Marg towards Sansad Marg. This route usually takes barely ten minutes," a commuter told PTI.
Another commuter said that there was complete chaos on the road as several routes were completely blocked and office goers were left in limbo.
"This much police and security deployment is unusual in this area. I had to drive on the wrong side of the road to reach the office. I am late by at least 1.5 hours," an office commuter who works in the NITI Ayog building said.
The Delhi Traffic Police had earlier issued an advisory asking commuters to avoid several roads and junctions in the area as far as possible.
Rafi Marg, Motilal Nehru Marg, Maulana Azad Road, K Kamaraj Marg, Raisina Road, Rajendra Prasad Road, Parliament Street, Ashoka Road, Talkatora Road, Pandit Pant Marg, Rakab Ganj Gurudwara Road, Vikas Marg, DDU Marg and Minto Road were among the stretches listed as roads to be avoided.
The advisory also mentioned Vijay Chowk, Boat Club, R/A Rail Bhawan, R/A Sunehri Masjid, R/A Patel Chowk, R/A Boota Singh, R/A Prime Chowk, R/A GRG, R/A Jalebi Chowk, ITO Chowk and Karkari Mor as locations to be avoided.
The traffic police suggested commuters use alternative routes, including Janpath, Man Singh Road, Akbar Road, Teen Murti Marg, Shanti Path, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Road, Kamal Ataturk Marg, Panchsheel Marg, Vinay Marg, Outer Circle at Connaught Place, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, R/A RML, Mother Teresa Crescent Road, 11 Murti, Sardar Patel Marg, Mahatma Gandhi Road and DBG Road.
Motorists were advised to remain patient, follow traffic rules and cooperate with police personnel deployed at key intersections.
Multiple people, including police personnel, were injured in the protest, which turned violent as protesters stormed through multiple barricades on Sansad Marg in an attempt to reach the Parliament, with the police launching a lathi charge and tear gas to disperse the crowd, causing heavy disruption of vehicular traffic in the high-security area.
