Chaos in Delhi: Kanwar Yatra adds to the woes of waterlogged capital

As Delhi grapples with perennial water logging issues, the city now faces an additional crisis — the massive influx of Kanwar Yatra devotees over the past few days, exacerbating the plight of residents and motorists alike.
 

With authorities turning a blind eye, hundreds of pilgrims have commandeered key roads and junctions across the city, particularly in east, southeast, and south Delhi. These devotees, accompanied by blaring boomboxes mounted on trucks, often drive on the wrong side of the road, creating chaos even in the dead of night. The lives of millions of Delhiites have been upended as they navigate not only flooded streets but also the disruption caused by the yatra.

The situation is expected to worsen until the weekend, as more kanwariyas enter the city before the 12-day pilgrimage concludes on Friday. Resident welfare associations, long frustrated by the annual turmoil, have lost hope in authorities taking meaningful action.

“It’s wrong to say that we do not act against unruly participants. We do stop vehicles with boomboxes and ask kanwariyas to lower the volume. Sometimes, we even cut the wires of their sound systems,” a senior police officer was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.

The influx of kanwariyas — travelling on foot, motorcycles, or packed into auto-rickshaws, cars, and trucks — has caused severe traffic snarls across the city, particularly during peak hours. Accompanied by ‘volunteers’ wielding sticks and metal rods, who frequently intimidate motorists, these pilgrims have brought traffic to a standstill on major routes like Outer Ring Road, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, and Mathura Road.
 

Commuters are now trapped in a double bind: navigating waterlogged, potholed roads while also contending with the unruly behaviour of kanwariyas.

“Even when police are present, they rarely do anything to clear the jams,” lamented a Delhi resident.
 

Those living along the yatra routes are also suffering from the incessant noise of loud music, which has shattered the peace in many neighbourhoods. The most affected are senior citizens, infants, school-going children, and individuals with heart conditions or high blood pressure.
 

In some cases, the kanwariyas have even driven through residential colonies, flouting noise pollution norms with impunity. 

Despite the overwhelming disruption, the kanwariyas remain defiant.
 

Police, on the other hand, claim that they are taking preventive measures, including photographing vehicles with boomboxes and issuing fines. “We are aware of the situation and have decided to increase police deployment at border points to prevent vehicles playing loud music from entering the city,” said additional commissioner of police (eastern range) Sagar Singh Kalsi. However, the effectiveness of these measures remains questionable.