Delhi: Brace for more traffic jams as protests at Jafrabad, Khureji prompt roadblocks

NEW DELHI: Traffic was thrown out of gear for nearly eight hours on Sunday owing to roadblocks because of the massive protests at Jafrabad and Khureji. Police said the situation was likely to remain the same on Monday as they had closed the roads near the protest sites fearing violence.
On Monday, the main road in Jafrabad and the Master Plan road are expected to remain choked through the day.
Roadblocks on Sunday led to major snarls on GT Road and Wazirabad Road. Police also closed Signature Bridge for some time to prevent the protest site from swelling up with crowds. Around noon, NH-9 was cordoned off as a security measure to prevent protesters from marching towards central Delhi.
The closure of the two arterial roads in northeast Delhi led to massive snarls in Seelampur, New Usmanpur, Gandhi Nagar and Shahdara bringing the internal stretches to a standstill around 1pm. Police also had to block parts of Swami Dayanand Marg till Karkari Mor after a group of protesters from Khureji blocked Vikas Marg crossing. This resulted in Vikas Marg getting choked.
Senior traffic officers said they managed to convince the protesters to tone down their agitation and allowed one stretch of all these roads to open in the evening.
However, the tailback of these closures affected traffic on Geeta Colony bridge, which ended in the snarls reaching Laxmi Nagar during peak hours. Though police allowed traffic on GT Road in the evening to clear the huge volume of vehicles that had accumulated there, the snarls went on till late at night.
Drivers trying to avoid the snarls crowded Ring Road near Kashmere Gate and Wazirabad. Senior traffic police officers said they managed to control traffic movement till afternoon, but the sudden violence led to the situation getting worse. They had to again block the Jafrabad main road and restrict traffic on GT Road and NH-9 fearing a spillover of protesters.
The deadlock went on till 8pm after which traffic movement was eased. Police said the ripple effect of the jams went on till late on Sunday since the traffic volume was heavy on all these stretches.