Traffic snarls ruining Diwali festivities in Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Choked roads and serpentine queues of cars: massive traffic snarls are wreaking havoc on the Diwali festivities as people are getting stuck for hours on the capital roads in almost all parts of the city.

Ruining the festivities further is the fact that the situation will get worse Sunday and continue till Thursday when the ‘Bhai Dooj’ festival will be celebrated.

People venturing out to distribute Diwali gifts to friends and relatives or to shop at markets are getting stuck for hours on the roads as heavy traffic is reported from every nook and corner of the city.

“I had to visit a couple of relatives in south Delhi and it took me two hours to reach there, a journey which usually takes just half an hour,” said Pankaj Singh, a resident of east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar.

Traffic policemen in many parts of the city switched off the traffic signals to manage the traffic manually and more efficiently.

Though, as per the Delhi Police, the solution is to use the Delhi Metro instead of relying on private vehicles.

“If more and more people use the Metro instead of private cars, the jams can be reduced to a great extent,” a police official manning a busy intersection near Green Park in south Delhi said.

But Delhiites begged to differ.

“I have bag full of gifts and presents, how do you expect me to carry them and use the Metro? That is just not practical,” said Anjana Kumar, a 32-year-old resident of north Delhi’s Ahok Vihar.

However, the woes of the people will continue till Wednesday when the festival of ‘Bhai Dooj’ is celebrated but Delhiites, it seems have resigned to their fate.

“You can’t stop people from taking their cars out…The traffic snarls, I guess are part and parcel of the festivities and it will be better for everybody if we get used to this,” said Anas Kamil, a 54-year-old resident of Hauz Khas in south Delhi.

Agreed 44-year-old Sangram Bharti, who said that because of no major improvement in public transport, the number of private cars plying on the roads in Delhi will only go up in the years to come.

IANS 2012-11-10 18:10:05