Traffic Movement In Central Delhi Hit Due To Republic Day Parade Dress Rehearsal

The commuters had a harrowing time while reaching their destinations as they were stuck in traffic near India Gate in central Delhi on Tuesday after vehicular movement was affected due to a full dress rehearsal for the Republic Day parade. Heavy traffic was also reported on the Delhi-Gurgaon border and the people took to X to report the bumper-to-bumper jam on the stretch.

One of the commuters posted on X his worst experience on the Jaipur-Delhi Highway. Another mentioned that huge jam from Hero Honda Chowk to Delhi road on NH8.

The traffic was affected on C-Hexagon, Ashoka Road and Rafi Marg near Krishi Bhawan. The traffic police personnel were deployed on these routes to manage the movement of vehicles. The traffic was also affected on Outer Ring Road and near the Pragati Maidan tunnel, Sarai Kale Khan, ITO, near Zoo red light traffic, Majnu Ka Tila and Ajmeri Gate flyover from Paharganj to Ajmeri Gate etc.

Long jam on the Barapullah flyover and the whole ring road from AIIMS to Noida toll road due to the caving in of the road at Noida toll, one of the users said.

Meanwhile, the traffic police also took to X cautioning the commuters about the traffic situation near the DND Toll Booth. "Traffic is affected in the carriageway from Barapullah towards DND Toll Booth due to road cave-in at DND Loop. Kindly plan your journey accordingly," it wrote on X.

The motorists had a harrowing time getting to their destinations and many reached late. A woman, who was coming from south Delhi to Connaught Place, said that she got stuck in heavy traffic near Kartavya Path. "It takes me around 20 minutes to reach Connaught Place but today it took me around 35 to 40 minutes," she said.

Some commuters said that there were long queues at the entry and exit gates of the Central Secretariat metro station as many tried to ditch the traffic.

Delhi Police had issued an advisory on Monday informing the people about road closures in central Delhi for the full dress rehearsal. The rehearsal began at 10:30 am from Vijay Chowk and passed via Kartavya Path, C-Hexagon, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose statue roundabout, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhas Marg before culminating at the Red Fort.

To facilitate the smooth passage of the parade, the traffic movement on Kartavya Path, from Vijay Chowk to India Gate, was stopped at 6 pm on Monday. The stretch reopened after the dress rehearsal was completed on Tuesday.

According to the advisory issued on Monday, flying of sub-conventional aerial platforms such as paragliders, paramotors, hang gliders, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, microlight aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small-size powered aircraft, quadcopters or para jumping from aircraft are prohibited over the National Capital Territory of Delhi till February 15.

The advisory requested the motorists to observe traffic rules and follow the directions of the police personnel deployed at intersections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)