New Year celebrations throw traffic out of gear in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 01: Massive traffic snarls were witnessed in Delhi on Wednesday as scores of people flocked to India Gate and Connaught Place for New Year celebrations.

Entry and exit gates of five Delhi Metro stations were closed in the evening to ease rush of passengers.

The Delhi Traffic Police has been constantly alerting commuters about the vehicular traffic through its official handle on Twitter to avoid any inconvenience.

Commuters were stuck in traffic jams on roads leading to India Gate, Connaught Place and ITO.

"Entry & exit gates of Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Pragati Maidan, Khan Market and Mandi House are closed. Interchange is available at Central Secretariat and Mandi House," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted.

One of the commuters took to Twitter to inform the Delhi Police about an ambulance being stuck in traffic jam at Barakhamba Road.

To which, the police quickly responded that the information was shared with the traffic personnel of the area.

Chayan Gera, who was also stuck in traffic, tweeted, "#delhitraffic CM sir ryt below ur poster of acche beete 5 saal we hav mor than 2km long traffic jam on the ever busy ring road. Please help sir, its a faded&weak sunshine on d 1st day, loads of vehicular pollution. @ArvindKejriwal (sic)."

Narrating a similar tale, another commuter tweeted, "What's with crazy traffic in across Delhi? Connaught Place is totally blocked, ITO flyover choked... What's happening."

The police said traffic is heavy around India Gate and C-Hexagon due to gathering of visitors and heavy volume of motorists.

It advised people coming from Noida to take DND or Akshardham to reach Delhi since road no. 13A between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj is closed for traffic movement.

Vehicular movement was affected in North Delhi due to the breakdown of a truck on Prembari flyover, officials said.

"Traffic movement is closed on Jai Singh road from Ashok road side due to heavy volume of vehicles," the Delhi Traffic Police said in a tweet.

"Traffic will remain heavy from Raja Garden towards Punjabi Bagh due to ongoing work by PWD. Kindly avoid the stretch," it tweeted.