Not Just Lungs, Covid-19 is Also Choking Traffic in Delhi, New Hotpots Emerge: Report

Post covid-19 lockdown, traffic jams in the national capital are continuing beyond peak hours and new chaos hot spots are emerging.

According to an exclusive report by Hindustan Times, the return of vehicles after lockdown relaxations led to new traffic patterns emerging. Senior traffic police officials said that over the last year, at least 20 arterial stretches where traffic was not heavy have become new congestion points.

Traffic police records show that stretches such as the Ring Road near Safdarjung Hospital, Sri Aurobindo Marg near Hauz Khas, Rajouri Garden (Najafgarh Road), Ajmal Khan Road (near Karol Bagh), Pankha Road (near Hari Nagar) are some of the stretches where heavy traffic jams are being reported more frequently.

As new traffic choke points were emerging, jams on the older hot spots was getting denser too, said the report by HT. Estimates show that on the busiest stretches of the city, including ITO junction, Ashram Chowk, Britannia Chowk, Mukarba Chowk, Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway, and Dhaula Kuan crossing, the traffic volume during peak rush hours increased by 10-12 per cent over the last year compared to the pre-lockdown period.

According to Google’s mobility trends the city’s traffic pattern was changed by the pandemic. The tool tracks the number and length of visits people make to certain kinds of places compared to a baseline – in this case, a five-week period between January 3 and February 6 this year.

On April 1 last year there was a 73 per cent drop in visits to supermarkets and pharmacies compared to the baseline, but the drop was 64 per cent on May 1, 27 per cent on June 1, 26 per cent on July 1 and 20 per cent on August 1 last year.

The mobility trends show that even after the public transport modes resumed services, there was a drop of 24 per ent in mobility around these spots as compared to the baseline.

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