With 50 VIP routes for heads of state, thousands across city stuck for hours

NEW DELHI: Traffic across Delhi came to a standstill for another day on Wednesday as a slew of road closures were enforced across the city when 22 heads of state arrived ~ not just at Bharat Mandapam for the AI Summit, but also at sightseeing locations across south and central Delhi leaving the general public stranded on the roads for hours on end.

- Hemani Bhandari

A jam near South Extension after a road was shut for VIP movement on Wednesday.

(RAJ K RAJ / HT PHOTO)

Traffic officials said the situation was anticipated. “The situation was comparatively better on Monday and Tuesday because only five heads of state had arrived, but with the remaining 17 arriving on Wednesday, we had a far more complicated task at hand,” a senior traffic officer said on condition of anonymity.

The officer added that as of 6pm, they had to carve out at least 50 routes for VIP movements, leading to road closures for security—some extending beyond an hour-and widespread chaos.

“The 17 arrived at different times in the morning and afternoon, so they were all escorted from the airport to their hotels,” the officer said, adding that schedules shared Tuesday night included visits to AIIMS, Humayun’s Tomb, India Gate and even an Aadhaar office in New Delhi.

‘Among the VIPs movements was French President Emmanuel Macron and Union minister JP Nadda arriving at AIIMS to inaugurate the Indo-French Campus on Al in Global Health.

Commuters HT spoke to said this was the “worst” day for traffic management in the city.