Delhi traffic police has planned to gift a jam-free Diwali celebration to commuters in the city.
A senior police official with the traffic department said that during the Diwali rush, traffic volume has shot up 40 per cent and will continue to torment motorists till Diwali. The traffic rush that used to remain only during peak hours of the day has extended till late evening. To counter heavy traffic during the festival rush, more traffic cops have been deployed on roads till late evening.
“To control traffic during evening hours, the traffic police have changed deployment plans for the week, taking out staff from morning peak hour duty and putting them on evening duty. The special arrangement will remain effective between 4 pm and 11 pm,” said Garima Bhatnagar, joint CP (traffic).
“We have deployed more traffic cops to manage traffic near market areas. We had prepared list of jam prone roads and demarked markets. We request shoppers to park their vehicle at designated parking area only,” she added.
She further added that all senior police officials with the traffic department have been instructed to be on road during peak hours to monitor traffic management. The social media cell of the traffic police has been geared for prompt traffic updates on Twitter and Facebook.
“Commuters can follow Delhi traffic police on Facebook and Twitter for traffic updates. All traffic cops have been instructed to keep the social media cell updated with traffic situation on the ground. It will help commuters to avoid traffic jams,” Ms Bhatnagar said.
The traffic police anticipated the situation to remain the same during the rest of the week. Traffic volume, however, might go up on Thursday and Friday due to Dhanteras. Traffic police suggested commuters to use public transport for the next few days.
On Monday, the commuters witnessed traffic jam in South and East Delhi for more than four hours. This was despite additional staff being deployed to remove roadblocks around markets since last week.
