Traffic goes out of gear after Odd-Even ends

New Delhi, Jan 16: Traffic was thrown out of gear in the national capital today and several major roads witnessed a chock-a-block situation, a day after the fortnight-long Odd-Even scheme restricting movement of private cars ended.

Some of the areas and stretches which witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic were central Delhi's Patel Nagar and Shadipur, and south Delhi areas like Dhaula Kuan, the stretch near IIT-Delhi and the entire route from Badarpur border to Ashram Chowk.

"Today we received calls about severe jams in areas close to popular markets in the city. For every such case, adequate personnel were deployed to ensure smooth flow of traffic," Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander said. Call records of Delhi Traffic Police revealed that severe traffic congestion was reported in the Delhi Cantonment area around 9 AM.

Within an hour, there were long tailbacks witnessed at the stretches between Pankha Road and Uttam Nagar in west Delhi and between Pusa Road and Shadipur in central Delhi, a traffic official said.

By 11 AM, the congestion at Delhi Cantonment area led to a chock-a-block situation in and around Dhaula Kuan, where hundreds of commuters were stuck in a severe jam.

Meanwhile, traffic snarls were reported at east Delhi's Khichdipur, outer Delhi's Burari bypass and the flyover at northeast Delhi's Shahdara.

Long tailbacks were also witnessed at Preet Vihar and Vikas Marg, the official said. By noon, the traffic snarls at west Delhi and central Delhi worsened, and its ripple effect was witnessed at Rajouri Garden and Patel Nagar areas respectively.

Around the same time, congestion was also reported in the stretch between Pancsheel and IIT flyover, the Ring Road stretch near Sarai Kale Khan. And soon, the tailback at Rajouri Garden extended till Punjabi Bagh area, the official said.

PTI