Xi's India Visit: Chinese President's movement causes traffic jams in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Motorists had a horrowing time to reach their destination as they got stuck in massive traffic jams witnessed in differents parts of central and south Delhi due to the movement of Chinese President Xi Jinping and protest by Tibetan activists against him.

Motorists had to face bumper to bumper traffic on several roads which were jam-packed in Dhaula Kuan, ITO, Daryaganj, Delhi Gate and around India Gate this morning after traffic police shut down parts of India Gate and Ring Road for the visit of Jinping to Rajghat and Hyderabad house after that.

Many of the commuters, including the office-goers, reached their destination late. Due to protests by Tibetans, a massive traffic jam was also reported from Dhaula Kuan, and motorists had to face a lot of problems.

Traffic jam was also reported on Ring Road where vehicles moved slowly, which also caused traffic snarls on roads leading to Ring Road.

Traffic Police had yesterday issued an advisory asking commuters to avoid Sardar Patel Marg, Dhaula Kuan and Ashoka Road as they would be closed for intermittent periods throughout the day today.

Traffic snarls were also reported on roads leading to Hyderabad House, where scores of Tibetans staged a vociferous protest and also clashed with police.

Policemen and paramilitary personnel were stationed at every intersections during the movement of Chinese President.

The situation was worst at the busy ITO intersection where motorists got stuck in traffic jams and it took them hours to cross the area.

"Normally, it takes me 30 minutes to reach my office in Connaught Place from my home, but today, it took me two hours to reach there. Traffic snarls were at several busy roads," said Rajesh Choudhary, a resident of Laxmi Nagar.