Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has flagged to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue of traffic snarls in the national capital due to the movement of his cavalcade. In a letter to the PM, written on Friday, Chowdhury said that while his security was of paramount concern, he was seeking intervention to avoid hardship to people. He wrote that while there can be no compromise on the PM’s security, people had missed flights or trains due to traffic diversions. “Nevertheless, it is a fact that the commuters on the public roads, who are from varied sections of the society and may include daily wagers, patients, office-goers, school and college going children, are often put to immense hardship owing to blocking/ diversion of traffic, which is often for long durations, due to VVIP movement,” he wrote. Traffic restrictions were seen in the city on Thursday and Friday due to VVIP movement, as per sources in Delhi traffic police. "I have heard and am also told of instances of people missing their flights, trains, examinations, as also delays in getting critically needed medical care owing to traffic blocks. The effect on the commuters that your movement on Delhi's roads has been having may not be in your notice and knowledge in complete and objective terms," Chowdhury wrote. He added that the authorities concerned, "including experts on traffic management" needed to work out plans to implement appropriate plans to minimise the hardship that the public was being put through "owing to VVIP movement on the roads of the capital city". "I would once again like to reiterate here that your safety and security are of paramount concern on which there can never ever be any let-up or compromise. At the same time, it will be just and proper to ensure that the general public is not put to any avoidable hardship due to the disruption caused to the traffic movement on the roads of New Delhi," Chowdhury said. A senior traffic officer, requesting anonymity, said, "There was heavy VIP movement in the New Delhi and Central Delhi area on Friday. traffic police officers were accordingly briefed as there were two PM routes for an event. specific diversions were made in a bid to prevent any grievance to commuters". The officer said that while no advisory was given out as VIP movement is generally not disclosed, it led to delays for regular commuters. On Thursday, when the Prime Minister attended an event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, an advisory was issued, which said that traffic would be slow in several parts of central and south Delhi.
