Poll prep leaves chaos on streets

Commuters were caught in long jams across the city on Tuesday as tens of thousands of personnel — polling staff and police reinforcements — fanned out in preparation for the assembly elections on Wednesday.

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI:

The traffic congestion was triggered when rows of buses and other transport vehicles carried personnel and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to centres and to strongrooms.

Their movement began in the morning and as regular traffic built up, arterial stretches were hit, sending spillover traffic into colony roads, especially in parts of south and east Delhi. Apart from election vehicles, police also stepped up security checks and deployed barricades, furthering choking traffic on a weekday.

Traffic woes across the city Problems were reported from across the city and at the borders. "I had to travel from Anand Vihar to south Delhi, and the ride was smooth until I reached the DND Flyway. After that, I was crawling. It took me one hour to travel from Maharani Bagh to Ashram, which usually takes about five minutes," said Farah Khan, a resident of Anand Vihar.