Monday mayhem: Traffic snarls in Delhi as protesting taxi drivers take to roads

New Delhi: It was a Monday mayhem for commuters on the national capital’s roads, with a section of taxi drivers protesting a Supreme Court decision to ban cabs operating on diesel and petrol.

The protesting drivers took to the roads at many places in New Delhi like Ashram chowk and Jantar Mantar, causing hardships for school-going children and office-goers.

Massive traffic jam near Delhi's Ashram chowk as taxi drivers protest demanding ban on diesel vehicles be revoked pic.twitter.com/kVcUc7ayFI

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2016

Diesel taxi drivers hold protest near Ashram chowk in Delhi, demand ban on diesel vehicles be revoked pic.twitter.com/nypdltTH4r

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2016

Delhi: Diesel taxi drivers stage protest at Jantar Mantar against SC's decision to ban them. pic.twitter.com/xoDlSx2MJB

— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2016

(Credits: ANI)

The condition was worse on the Delhi-Gurgaon and Delhi-Noida borders and near west Delhi’s Rajokri area.

“The taxi drivers blocked both the carraigeways on Rajokri flyover near the old Delhi toll booth on Gurgaon-Dhaula Kuan road,” a traffic police official told IANS.

The protests and blockages led to major traffic woes across New Delhi, with vehicles lined up behind one another for up to 1 km, an official said.

“It takes me 20 minutes to reach work, but I am stuck here for the past 30 minutes. Nothing is moving,” Preeti Gupta, a PR professional working in Noida Sector 16 told IANS.

Vaibhav Mishra, who works in a Gurgaon tech firm, said it took him two hours to reach his office from the neighbouring Sultanpur area. “It was harrowing. It turned worse as the AC in my car was not working,” he said.

Vehicles were also piled up on the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) flyway but were soon cleared with the help of policemen deployed there, an official said.

Taxi unions on Sunday too staged a protest against the ban.

The Supreme Court on Saturday had refused to extend the 30 April deadline for diesel operated taxis to convert to CNG to curb air pollution.

Earlier, in March, the deadline was extended till Saturday.

The deadline for the change has been extended twice earlier.

Various researches and studies put Delhi among the most polluted cities in the world.

According to an IndiaSpend report, New Delhi’s pollution rose 23% during second phase of odd-even .

With inputs from IANS