Delhi traffic slows on Ring Road, Outer Ring Road and Mathura Road

Amarnath Mehta left his Parliament Street office at 5.30pm expecting a 45-minute trip to Taimoor Nagar. Near the Prithviraj Road-Shahjahan Road intersection, he expected the journey to take nearly 90 minutes.

Traffic slowed across central and south Delhi on Wednesday evening. A traffic police officer cited festival-market footfall, infrastructure work, VIP movement and security arrangements ahead of a proposed November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan as factors adding pressure during the evening peak.

The most affected stretches included the Ring Road and Outer Ring Road between RK Puram and Sarai Kale Khan, Munirka and Sukhdev Vihar, and Mathura Road from Nizamuddin to the Badarpur border. Aurobindo Marg, the Barapullah elevated road, the Pragati Maidan tunnel and roads around Connaught Place were also affected.

The officer said increased footfall at Khan Market, Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and Karol Bagh had reduced parking availability, leading to roadside parking near shopping hubs. Construction near the Modi Mill flyover was also slowing traffic on the Outer Ring Road.

Police said they would deploy additional personnel ahead of the proposed November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan.