Central Delhi traffic to be affected today

May 11th, 2007

New Delhi: Steer clear of central Delhi roads on Friday morning. Major traffic restrictions will be put in place around the historic Red Fort on Friday where several VVIPs, including the President, Prime Minister, Vice-president, important political leaders, MPs, ministers and diplomats, will gather to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1857 Uprising.

About 40,000 youths will start their march to the Red Fort around 4 am from their camp on the banks of river Yamuna. They will move through Ring Road, Hanuman Setu, Chowk Chhata Rail and Chandni Chowk and are expected to cover the two-km distance in about an hour.

The VIPs will come in and take their seats by 7 am and are scheduled to move out at 8.30 am. The area around Red Fort, including Netaji Subhash Marg, Lothian Road, SPM Marg, Chandni Chowk, New Daryaganj Road and Link Road, will remain closed from 4 am to 10 am. Old Yamuna bridge, Hanuman Setu and Kela Ghat road will also be closed. Commercial traffic will not be allowed to enter Delhi and bus routes will be diverted. The police expect trouble around Red Fort and Rajghat around 10 am, when the youth will march back to the camp. They will disperse from there for various railway stations post lunch by specially designated buses.

Several trains will be diverted on Friday. The diversions will be in effect from 6.45 am to 8.45 am. The affected trains include Azamgarh-Delhi Kafiyat Express, Dehradun-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Mussorie Express, Saharanpur-Delhi passenger, Khurja-Delhi EMU, Shamli-Delhi EMU, Aligarh-Delhi EMU, Muzaffarnagar-Delhi EMU, Delhi-Kotdwar Express, Bandra Terminus-Dehradun Express, Delhi Junction-Ghaziabad EMU, Kalka-Howrah-Kalka Mail, Lalgarh-Guwahati Avadh Assam Express and Mathura-Ghaziabad EMU.

Schools and banks will remain closed, though representatives from market associations clarified that shops will remain open. Only Chandni Chowk will be closed.

Source: TOI(Delhi epaper)

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