Delhi's traffic nightmare continues for the second day

New Delhi, May 3: Traffic crawled across the national capital for the second successive day on Tuesday, May 3 as drivers of diesel-cabs blocked key roads connecting the city to neighbouring Noida and Gurgaon while repair work led to a number of diversions.

The congestion, reported from crucial arteries such as the Delhi-Noida Direct flyway, during the morning rush hours affected thousands of office-goers, who were forced to sweat it out on the roads with an unrelenting heat adding to their woes.

Although many bottlenecks, including the one near Radisson Blu Plaza on National Highway 8, that connects Delhi and Gurgaon, were cleared by the Traffic Police by 12 PM, their ripple effects were visible in the form of long tailbacks.

Cab drivers blocked traffic at DND Flyway for about 45 minutes protesting against action by enforcement agencies following the Supreme Court's decision to ban diesel taxis in Delhi. "Traffic was today affected for 45 minutes from 9.45 AM to 10.30 AM.

Traffic was affected yesterday for 20 minutes as well," DND Flyway spokesperson Anwar Abbasi said. District Magistrate NP Singh had issued directions to all IT, other companies and transporters to get diesel cabs converted to CNG.

Over 20,000 cabs are running for companies in Noida, ferrying their employees. Traffic volume on the already busy thoroughfares such as Vikas Marg, especially areas in and around ITO, went up due to ongoing repair work on Bhairon Marg and desilting of a canal near Karkari More.

The Supreme Court, last Saturday, refused to give more time to cab operators to convert to CNG and put a ban on diesel cabs in the city from May 1, a decision that affected over 27,000 diesel-run vehicles, many of them linked with app-based cab aggregators such as Uber and Ola.

Traffic Police have launched a massive drive towards booking and impounding violators of the ban, riling a large number of cab drivers which has prompted the Centre to consider urging the apex court to review its decision.

PTI