Raksha Bandhan festivities choke roads, Metro in Delhi

There was heavy rush on the roads and in Metro trains here on Saturday, as the Raksha Bandhan festivities drew a huge number of people out of their homes, bringing the national capital literally to a standstill at various places.

Anticipating the traffic snarls, Delhi Traffic Police had appealed to the public on Friday to use public transport like metro or buses to avoid congestion on the roads.

But as people abided by the advisory, it left the Metro trains and buses packed to capacity.

Owing to huge commuter movement at various places in the city, there was heavy traffic since morning.

"Roads leading to Connaught Place, Karol Bagh area, Vikas Marg, Aurobindo Marg, Station Road, Kali Dass Marg, Pankha Road, Africa Avenue Marg, August Kranti Marg, Subhash Marg have been facing traffic jams since the morning due to Raksha Bandhan," a Delhi Traffic Police official told IANS.

Areas around Sangam Vihar, Badarpur Road, Mangolpuri, Jamia Hamdard Hospital, Dharamshila, Kanpur road, Maharanapratap Road, Patel Road, and Rohini were also affected, the official added.

With more commuters preferring the metro for travel, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) decided to introduce an additional 210 trips on Friday and Saturday due to Raksha Bandhan.

"In view of the increased ridership observed by the DMRC in earlier years on the day before and on Raksha Bandhan itself, the Delhi Metro will run about 210 extra train trips on the two days," an official statement from DMRC said.

"On Friday, Metro ferried more than 32 lakh people," Anuj Dayal, chief spokesperson of DMRC, told IANS.

But for Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Noida, more metro trains didn't serve the purpose as he had to stand for over 10 minutes in a long queue just to enter the metro station.

"I stood in a long line that ran onto the road for over 10 minutes to enter the Noida City Centre Metro Station. I found the metros were running rather too slow, although the frequency was fine," Kumar said.

He also said a metro ride to Dwarka took him more than two hours in an over crowded compartment.