In pics: Traffic jam on Delhi-Gurgaon border as cab drivers protest

delhi

Updated: May 02, 2016 12:34 IST

Traffic was thrown out-of-gear in areas around National Highway 8 on Monday morning as hundreds of cab drivers blocked both carriageways near the Rajokri toll booth in southwest Delhi on the key road protesting against the Supreme Court’s decision to ban diesel taxis in the city.

Traffic jam at Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) toll plaza on May 2. (Sunil Ghosh/ Hindustan Times)

The congestion largely affected thousands of office-goers who travel between Delhi and Gurgaon, linked by NH-8, and the traffic helpline was bombarded with calls from distressed commuters.

Dhaulakuan, Kapashera and Mehrauli were some of the areas where traffic crawled for hours and a long tailback stretching over a kilometer was witnessed near the Rajokri flyover around 9am, a traffic official said.

A scene of traffic jam at a road near DND toll-plaza on May 02. (Sunil Ghosh/ Hindustan Times)

“The taxi drivers on Monday morning blocked both the carraigeways on Rajokri flyover near the old Delhi toll booth on Gurgaon to Dhaula Kuan road,” a traffic police official said.

The chaotic situation stretched beyond 11am and traffic personnel had to be pressed into service in the area, the official added.

Diesel taxi operators block traffic NH-8 at the Delhi - Gurgaon border on May 2. (Gurinder Osan/ Hindustan Times)

After extending the deadline twice, the apex court had on Saturday refused to give more time to cab operators to convert to CNG and put a ban on diesel cabs in the city from May 1.

According to Delhi transport department, about 60,000 taxis are registered in the national capital of which 27,000 run on diesel. Around 2,000 diesel-run taxis had converted into CNG mode in the last two months.

Vehicles were stuck for hours in a traffic Jam on National Highway-8, in New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Taxi drivers blocked traffic on the NH8 at the Delhi-Gurgaon border. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The red zone is all what Delhi-Gurgaon traffic is all about. Thanks SC n Diesel owners, I'm stuck past 2hrs. pic.twitter.com/9jyT2hs9fY — Rainasaurus (@sid_raina) 2 May 2016

Damn my bro missed flight due to traffic on gurgaon route @ArvindKejriwal @bharat_builder — Vaibhav Aggarwal (@Vaibhav_CFA) 2 May 2016

State of NH8 at Delhi Gurgaon border after agitating drivers bring traffic to standstill. #dieselban pic.twitter.com/Rlxi0wNBX9 — Rajat Gupta (@rajatg_iimcal) 2 May 2016

Vehicles were stuck in the traffic Jam at NH8 on the Gurgaon Delhi border. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

#RidlrDEL Major traffic jam in NH8 towards Gurgaon. pic.twitter.com/sRux7GnrwO — Dipto Sankar Basu (@DiptoS) 2 May 2016

Taxi drivers blocked the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway after the Supreme Court banned plying of Diesel cabs in the Delhi-NCR region from May 1. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The red zone is all what Delhi-Gurgaon traffic is all about. Thanks SC n Diesel owners, I’m stuck past 2hrs.Damn my bro missed flight due to traffic on gurgaon route @ArvindKejriwal @bharat_builderState of NH8 at Delhi Gurgaon border after agitating drivers bring traffic to standstill. #dieselban#RidlrDEL Major traffic jam in NH8 towards Gurgaon.@TimesNow @timesofindia @htTweets Unprecedented traffic towards GGN right till GGN toll gate.@abpnewstv @aajtak

With inputs from Agencies