The first day of the week began on a tough note for commuters who faced traffic woes, a day after the traffic movement on the Old Yamuna bridge here was closed due to water level in the river rising over the damger mark due to rains, a senior officer of the Delhi Traffic Police said.
The Delhi Traffic Police has diverted traffic to Geeta Colony flyover and ITO flyover.
"As the water level of the Yamuna river has breached the danger mark, District Magistrate (Shahdara) had issued orders for the closure of Old Yamuna Bridge. Accordingly, we have diverted the traffic towards Geeta colony flyover and ITO," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Alok Kumar.
Commuters are advised to plan their journey keeping in mind the extra time they would require to reach their destination, he said.
The Old Yamuna bridge connects the east and the north and northwest parts of the national capital. Commuters faced long delays as they were stuck in jams on the Geeta Colony flyover this morning during the peak hours.
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"I was stuck in traffic for over 30 minutes. Usually, It takes me only 20 minutes to reach my office in Lutyens' Delhi but today it took me over an hour to reach the same destination," said a 27-year-old media professional Samar Mehta.
He added that the service lane in Mayur Vihar Extension was occupied by people who had to move there and put up tents since their homes were inundated with water.
"Usually, the two-wheelers ply in the service lane but today, they were part of the traffic on the main road which led to further chaos," he said.
The traffic situation was worsened due to the breakdown of a truck in the carriageway from Geeta Colony flyover towards Shanti Van, said another traffic police official.
Traffic movement on the Old Yamuna bridge was closed on Sunday evening with the water level in the river rising due to rains since the Friday night.
An order banning movement of traffic on the bridge was issued yesterday by the disaster management authorities after the flow in the Yamuna showed a rising trend.
The river was flowing at 205.5 metres on Sunday.
Old Yamuna Bridge is a road-cum-rail bridge on the Delhi-Howrah line that was built over 150 years ago. It serves as a major connectivity link between Delhi and the neighbouring states.
"There is impending danger of floods due to this unprecedented rise in water level resulting in inundation of low-lying areas in the Yamuna bed and may also lead to loss of life and property," the order issued by the District Disaster Management Authority had said.
"The traffic movement on the bridge is, hereby directed to be closed with immediate effect," it had said.
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