National: Massive traffic snarls were witnessed in parts of Delhi and neighbouring Noida on Tuesday (October 29) ahead of the Diwali festival. The traffic in the national capital came to a standstill as throngs of shoppers flooded the markets to celebrate Dhanteras, creating significant delays and inconvenience to commuters.

Commuters took to X saying the traffic was heavy at several places including Badarpur flyover, CV Raman Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Badarpur Mehrauli Road, Taimur Nagar-Maharani Bagh Road, Ashram and Yamuna Vihar. Several videos showed traffic snarls in Laxmi Nagar, Karol Bagh, Sarai Kale Khan, Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyway and several other parts of Delhi-NCR.

Sunil Yadav, a legal advisory in a private firm, said, "The traffic was heavy from Barahpullah flyover towards Sarai Kale Khan. The vehicles were crawling on the road on that particular stretch."

Another commuter Vivek Singh said the traffic was massive between Madhuban Chowk to Rohini East Metro station. 

Several social media users complaint

“Delhi is gasping for breath on the festival of Dhanteras. Just look at the condition of traffic,” said an X user.

Another X user said, “Traffic is choked at New Ashok Nagar metro station and it’s 300 mtr surrounding. And we are not able to see a single traffic person to resolve this.”

Delhi Police made elaborated arrangements 

The Delhi Police has said they have made elaborated arrangements for smooth flow of traffic. A senior traffic police officer said they have intensified checking on the road. "We have deployed personnel on bikes to check the encroachment on busy roads which could lead to traffic congestion in the area. People who are coming to the markets are also been informed that they should park their vehicles at designated places.

"The personnel have loud speakers on their bikes to make the flow of traffic smooth. Non-destined vehicles are not being allowed to enter the national capital. Continuous anti-encroachment drive is also been carried out in the crowded places," the officer said.

In view of the festive season, the Delhi Metro also stated that it will introduce additional 60 trips on Tuesday and Wednesday in a bid to enhance commuter convenience and ease congestion. There are around 4,000 daily trips of Metro.