Republic Day parade dress rehearsal today may lead to traffic on Delhi routes

Several
roads in central Delhi are expected to remain shut briefly on Thursday for the
full dress rehearsal of the Republic Day Parade, raising the possibility of
traffic congestion.

The
rehearsal will start at 9:50 am at Vijay Chowk and will proceed towards the Red
Fort via Rajpath, C-Hexagon, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji
Subhash Marg, taking the route the actual parade will take on January 26,
according to Delhi Police.

Traffic on
Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate has been restricted till the rehearsal
is over on Thursday, and from 6 pm Saturday till the parade concludes on
Sunday, police said in an advisory.

Metro
services will be available for commuters on Thursday but a few gates at Udyog
Bhawan and Central Secretariat stations will be closed. “Exit and entries
will remain functional at the two stations,” a senior DMRC official said.

On Sunday,
the entry and exit will remain closed at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan
from 5 am till 12 noon and Lok Kalyan Marg and Patel Chowk from 8.45 am to 12
noon, the official added.

The Delhi
Police advisory added that no cross traffic will be allowed on Rajpath from 11
pm on Wednesday at Rafi Marg, Janpath, Man Singh Road till the rehearsal gets
over. C-Hexagon-India Gate will be closed for traffic from 09.15 am on Thursday
till the rehearsal parade crosses Tilak Marg, it stated.

From 10 am on
Wednesday, the traffic on Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Subhash Marg
has been restricted on both directions. Cross traffic will only be allowed
depending upon the movement of the rehearsal parade, the advisory said.

For Republic
Day too, no traffic will be allowed on Rajpath from Vijay Chowk to India Gate
from 6 pm on Saturday till the parade gets over on Sunday.

From 5 am on
Sunday, the traffic on Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Subhash Marg
will not be allowed on both directions. Cross traffic will only be allowed
depending upon the movement of the parade.

No heavy
transport vehicles/large goods vehicles will be allowed to enter Delhi from
borders from 10 pm on Wednesday till the rehearsal gets over. They will be
allowed to ply between ISBT Sarai Kale Khan and ISBT Kashmiri Gate on Ring Road
from 7.30 am to 1.30 pm on Thursday.

The same
restriction will be in place for heavy transport vehicles/large goods vehicles
on Saturday and Sunday.

Flying of
sub-conventional aerial platforms like para-gliders, para-motors, hang gliders,
UAVs, UASs, microlight aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small
size powered aircraft, quadcopters or para jumping from aircraft are prohibited
over the jurisdiction of National Capital Territory of Delhi till February 15,
it said.

No
auto-rickshaw and taxi will be allowed to enter or ply after 7 am on Thursday and
Sunday on Mother Teresa Crescent, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Ashoka Road, Sansad
Marg, Tolstoy Marg, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Ferozeshah Road, Bhagwan Dass Road,
Mathura Road, Subramaniam Bharti Marg, Humayun Road, APJ Abdul Kalam Marg,
Kamal Ata Turk Marg, Kautilya Marg and Sardar Patel Road.