Capital protests: barricades, checkpoints choke Central Delhi

From October 10 to October 12, the situation across Central Delhi remained the same. Long queues of vehicles formed at barricades, where police would question commuters; if satisfied with the answers, they would let the vehicle pass. On October 11, the situation improved slightly, as vehicles were permitted to pass, though more than 32 checkpoints did little to ease the flow.

Multiple chokepoints were established across Central Delhi, where long queues of cars, buses and two-wheelers moved at a snail’s pace along major roads.

Traffic congestion mounted around key junctions, leaving commuters stranded for hours. Several motorists expressed frustration over the delays and the disruption to their daily schedules.
Vehicles were seen queuing near Mandi House, Tilak Marg, Copernicus Marg and the India Gate C-Hexagon, where traffic moved slowly amid barricades and the deployment of police personnel.

Traffic congestion

Congestion was reported across several parts of central Delhi, including Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, Mathura Road, Ferozeshah Road, KG Marg, Ashoka Road, Bhagwan Das Road, Tilak Marg, Copernicus Marg, India Gate C-Hexagon, Rani Jhansi Road, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Connaught Place’s Inner Circle, Minto Road, Asaf Ali Road, Akbar Road, ITO and Indraprastha Marg.

The traffic snarls coincided with Cockroach Janta Party and Left-led protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of voter fraud during the Special Intensive Revision. On October 12, the opposition INDIA bloc marched to the Supreme Court amid heavy police deployment.

Several commuters blamed the protests and traffic diversions for the congestion, criticising the authorities’ handling of traffic management. Arun Kumar Gupta, a gig worker with a bike taxi-hailing and courier company, said he lost a significant amount of work because of the extensive barricading across the city.

“I was going towards Safdarjung on Saturday [October 10] to pick up a courier. It was good money as well as far as I remember, around Rs 300. But while I was moving toward the pickup location, the police told me to turn around and leave. One of them threatened to detain me,” he said. “I just left from there. As it is, there were barely any orders that day.”

Lakhbir Singh, a commuter, reported being stuck in traffic on October 11 near ITO for two and a half hours and questioned the disruption across the Capital. “We just could not go anywhere. We knew the stretch near ITO is infamous for bad traffic, but this was unprecedented. When our car moved, we saw that much of the road was barricaded near the Supreme Court foot overbridge.”

Traffic management

Commuters also reported that the effects of diversions extended beyond central Delhi, as vehicles were redirected to adjoining roads, adding to congestion on alternative routes. They urged the authorities to improve traffic management and provide timely updates on restrictions.

The Delhi Traffic Police advised motorists to use KG Marg and Mathura Road as alternative routes to avoid Copernicus Marg and Tilak Marg, respectively.

In an earlier advisory, the traffic police had warned of possible restrictions and diversions at several major junctions and stretches across the Capital in view of the protests. The locations included Panchkuian and Mandi House roundabouts, Dr Dinesh Nandini Dalmia Chowk (W-Point), Ram Charan Aggarwal Chowk (A-Point), Minto Road, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, Guru Nanak Chowk and the Connaught Place outer circle-Barakhamba Road T-point.

Other stretches identified included Chelmsford Road near Connaught Place’s Outer Circle, the Bhairon Road-MGM Ring Road T-point, Lodhi Road flyover, Neela Gumbad roundabout, the Sardar Patel Marg-Panchsheel Marg crossing, Bhikaji Cama Place and areas beneath the Moti Bagh flyover.

The advisory also listed the Ring Road-San Martin Marg T-point, Ashoka Road-Jantar Mantar roundabout, Jai Singh Road-Sansad Marg crossing, Jai Singh Road-Ashoka Road T-point, and the Patel Chowk, Rail Bhawan and RML Hospital roundabouts as locations where restrictions could be imposed.

Police advisory

The police advised motorists to avoid non-essential travel through the affected areas, follow diversion signs and instructions from traffic personnel, and allow additional time for their journeys. Those travelling to railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and the airport through New Delhi and central Delhi were also urged to account for possible delays.

The traffic police said they would implement diversions based on the prevailing law-and-order situation and ground conditions, and asked commuters to follow their social media channels for updates.

However, worshippers heading to Hanuman Mandir and Gurdwara Bangla Sahib at Connaught Place faced significant resistance. Balwinder Singh arrived at CP on October 10 to reach the gurdwara; however, strict regulations and barricades prevented him from getting through. “They told me to park my motorbike almost two kilometres from the gurdwara. They said I could only walk there and that they would not stop me. However, I got to know later that many who were walking towards the gurdwara for worship were bundled up,” he said.

A similar situation prevailed on October 12 as well. Multiple government employees around Sardar Patel Bhawan at Patel Chowk complained about the intense barricading. “Every approach to and from the area has been barricaded, with the severest being in front of the Election Commission of India (ECI) office. They had said that the Metro stations would be closed till 4 PM, but even after 5 PM, the situation is the same,” said an employee at Sardar Patel Bhawan, on the condition of anonymity.