Full Dress Rehearsal for Republic Day Parade: Traffic Congestion Likely in Central Delhi on Thursday

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) 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. No cross traffic on Rajpath from 11 pm on Saturday at Rafi Marg, Janpath, Man Singh Road till the parade gets over. C-Hexagon-India Gate will be closed for traffic from 2 am on Sunday till the Parade crosses Tilak Marg, it said.

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.

Buses from Ghaziabad bound for Shivaji Stadium shall take NH-24, Ring Road and terminate at Bhairon Road. Buses coming from NH-24 shall take right turn on Road No. 56 and terminate at ISBT Anand Vihar. Buses coming from Ghaziabad side will be diverted at Mohan Nagar towards BhopraChungi for Wazirabad Bridge. All Inter State buses coming from Dhaula Kuan side shall terminate at Dhaula Kuan.

If any unidentified object or suspicious person is seen, please inform the nearest policeman on duty, it added.

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