CP facelift to blame for jam cops

Below the giant posters announcing the arrival of the “winged” Mercedes at the Auto Expo in Pragati Maidan, hundreds of cars stand choc-a-bloc in one of the worst traffic jams in the city. As the jam continued for the second day on Thursday, the Traffic Police tried to shift the blame, saying the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), which is controlling the event, had not communicated the details of the event to them. It was CII’s “courtesy entries” that ruined the road traffic, they said. The Special Commissioner of Traffic, Ajay Chadha, said: “We were told that the first couple of days will be low key, that till Friday, entry will be reserved for the industry and the media. But they began allowing in the public by the second day and hence the rush.” Also, the CII, he said, has given 1,000 entry passes to vehicles allowing them to enter ITPO without their knowledge and every now and then, they allow guests to come in with their cars.“Someone calls them and the guard is asked to allow in the person and this messes up the whole traffic situation,” Chadha said. “We had much better understanding with the ITPO authorities and they would listen to us.” The ITPO authorities said they had only given out the space and this was a third party event. Moreover, the CII had promised park and ride facility for visitors but they are yet to provide it. “The only parking space available is on Bhairon Road and CII has no park and ride facilities from there, causing difficulty to the visitors,” Chadha said. “Yesterday, when the parking got full, there was a huge jam and it was very hard to ease the traffic. Today, it has been better.”

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Expo-organisers--CP-facelift-to-blame-for-jam--cops/564815/