World Cultural Festival: Traffic better, extra cops on duty

The national capital continued to suffer severe traffic jams for the second consecutive day on Saturday. Morning showers followed by two mega events — the World Cultural Festival (WCF) and National Solidarity Conference — led to traffic congestion on various major stretches.

The traffic police said they had already issued traffic advisories via social media and newspapers. “Sudden rainfall for the last two days has severely hit all the arrangements and diversion plans were made by the traffic police to counter traffic hassles during the show,” said a senior traffic police official.

Joint CP (traffic) Sandeep Goyal said, “Traffic was smooth on Saturday compared to Friday. The volume of vehicles on the roads was much less because of the weekend. We are expecting a smoother ride on Sunday also. We have placed extra traffic cops at places identified as prone to traffic congestion.”

The city is hosting two mega events — the World Cultural Festival on the banks of the Yamuna and the National Solidarity Conference at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Mr Goyal added that they have deployed sufficient traffic cops to control the situation. On Friday, traffic went out of order in most places in the city. The traffic police requested commuters to avoid roads near the WCF venue as it might witness traffic congestion because the festival will conclude on Sunday evening.

Commuters at ITO complained of massive traffic jams at 2 pm. They complained that traffic gridlock is a regular phenomenon on the stretch. “I witnessed a traffic jam on Vikas Marg due to some protest and again was stuck in traffic at ITO. Even weekends are not spared for a smooth drive in the city,” said Raksha Singh, a resident of Patparganj.

Traffic police advised commuters to use public transport and avoid the Noida Link Road, NH-24 and the Ring Road stretch from the intersection with Bhairon Marg till the mouth of the DND Flyway. They expect congestion on these stretches between 12 noon and 11 pm.

The official said those approaching from the trans-Yamuna side towards central Delhi should use the ITO Road as Akshardham and NH-24 will also be congested.

Commuters from Noida heading towards Delhi should take the DND flyover as traffic on the Noida Link Road is expected to be heavy during the event, he said.