FRONT PAGE | Friday, November 20, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Traffic crawls as agitators clog city roads
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
The agitation by sugarcane farmers from Western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday slowed down the traffic in the Capital. But to the credit of Delhi Traffic Police, farmers were not allowed to go berserk on the streets. Traffic police personnel, including the senior officials, kept a constant vigil over the situation to ensure smooth flow of traffic. However, traffic congestion was reported in Rajghat, CP and Jantar Mantar during the peak hours but the flow soon returned to normalcy.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SN Srivastava said around 20,000 farmers had gathered in the city. “The farmers, who mainly came to the Capital in buses, approa-ched Rajghat from where they proceeded towards Ramlila Maidan. From there they marched to Jantar Mantar via Ranjit Singh Marg and Tolstoy Marg,” Srivastava added.
Srivastava said that the farmers were allowed to park their buses and other vehicles at Ramlila Maidan in order to avert any probable traffic obstruction on the roads. He, however, admitted that traffic snarls were experienced during the peak hours in morning. “The vehicular movement was affected at Rajghat, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Barakhamba
Road, Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Janpath,” the official added.
The traffic around Jantar Mantar remained congested till late afternoon. The traffic police officials had put up barricades along the road from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street.
The traffic on Ashoka Road and CP Outer Circle, was also impacted. The traffic snarl had resulted in a long queue of vehicles on one side of the road from Ashoka Road to Janpath. “I had to take a longer route on my way to Parliament Street from Daryaganj,” said Prashant, a commuter.
Mandi House and surrounding areas also witnessed traffic jam, though the flow became normal soon. The movement to New Delhi Railway Station from Ramlila Maidan was also affected. According to traffic department, the farmers had started coming to the city since morning in buses and other vehicles. This resulted in heavy volume of traffic on Ring Road, Mathura Road, NH-24 and Vikas Marg. The police had also advised motorists to avoid these areas. The diversion continued from 9 am till late in the afternoon.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal, Bharatiya Kisan Union and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan had jointly organised ‘Gherao of Parliament’ on Thursday. The farmers were protesting against the new regime of pricing and procurement of sugarcane for the current crushing season.
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