New Delhi, Jan 18 (Inditop.com) With Republic Day just eight days away, the parade rehearsals near India Gate left thousands of commuters stranded on the roads early Monday as traffic was diverted from the parade route.
Caught unaware, Sarita Naik, an office goer, stood waiting for the bus for a good 30 minutes before taking an auto to work.
“The traffic has been diverted around India Gate and Vijay Chowk, therefore the bus that I generally take must have taken a detour. But I came to know about it only after standing at the bus stop for about 30 minutes in the cold,” Naik complained.
“I could have hopped on to another bus at least for some distance, but each one of them was so overcrowded that I didn’t dare step on any. Finally I had to take an auto,” she added.
Taking advantage of the commuters’ haplessness, auto drivers fleeced the customers — charging double the fare.
“What choice did I have? There were at least 20 people waiting for an auto at the bus stop. I let three autos go because they were charging an exorbitant amount, but in that process I was getting late for work. So I had to take the next one that came along and pay whatever he charged,” said Ramesh Jain.
Sonal Jain, another office goer, said: “I took an auto from Central Secretariat to Moti Bagh and it had to take a long detour because there were diversions almost everywhere. On top of that the driver took another passenger en route and charged both of us Rs.80 each, when the fare to my destination is just Rs.40.”
A traffic police official said: “Traffic diversions before Republic Day is routine every year. Today there hasn’t been much of a diversion. There will be traffic advisories issued before the full dress rehearsal when route diversions will take place until about mid day.”
