Traffic jams choke roads as exhibit begins

Long traffic snarls were witnessed on India Gate and its C-Hexagon radial roads Friday morning as the 'World Food India 2017' started on Friday. The scenario is likely to continue till Sunday, prompting the Delhi Traffic Police advising residents to avoid the stretch on weekend.

Serpentine queues of vehicles choked the area around India Gate in the morning, which was accentuated by the rush hour, as hundreds of commuters headed to their workplace. Heavy rush of people to attend the three-day long festival at the India Gate lawns, also descended on the roads, leading to increased vehicular and pedestrian movement.

Office-goers complained about being caught up in the jam for hours. "I had to reach ITO for a meeting and it took me more than an hour to just cross the India Gate radial. It was absolute madness," said Sahej Malhotra, a lawyer.

Sharing a similar experience, Rituraj Wadwalkar, an IT professional said, "I regret not taking the Metro to Gurgaon today. Imagine spending two hours only on the C-hexagon when the entire drive from here to my destination would have taken not more than one hour."

The police had also barricaded key internal roads like Ashoka Road, Akbar Road, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Shahjahan Road and Dr Zakir Hussain Marg due to VIP movement.

Shuttle service

To grapple with the massive rush of visitors for the festival, a shuttle service has also been started from Bhairon Marg that will serve as parking for unlabelled vehicles till Sunday. India Gate, the venue for WFI has been made into a no parking zone.