Motorists passing through Lutyens’ Delhi had a tough time on Friday as the zone witnessed massive traffic congestion because of heavy footfall at the World Food India 2017 festival, which opened at the India Gate.
Also, the North-East Festival being organised at IGNCA saw huge crowds, adding to the traffic chaos..
There was a lot of VVIP movement as several delegates attended the food festival. The city police had to control the traffic on the roads leading towards and away from India Gate, said an official.
Many delegates attend
Nearly 3,000-4,000 delegates were present at the inaugural function at Vigyan Bhawan and at the venue of the food festival at India Gate. Traffic snarls started from afternoon lasting till evening.
A senior traffic official said that traffic spilled over to Vikas Marg from Bhairon Marg where a parking space was arranged for the visitors of the festival. This caused heavy traffic on Vikas Marg from Laxmi Nagar to ITO.
The Delhi Traffic Police had alerted commuters on its official Twitter handle about the heavy traffic near India Gate and other parts of the city. “Traffic is heavy at C-Hexagon (India Gate) due to VVIP movement,” the tweet informed the commuters on the route.
The roads leading to India Gate — including Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Ashoka Road, Akbar Road, Shahjahan Road and Zakir Hussain Marg — were also clogged due to barricading by the police to divert traffic from the venue.
The three-day festival is being organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Delegates from over two dozen countries as well as those from different Indian States and the food processing industry are participating in the event.