Delhi: Traders block traffic, face cane music

With sealing of unauthorised shops in Delhi set to resume on Thursday, the traders intensified their agitation, causing massive traffic chaos in different parts of the city on Wednesday on the final day of their three-day bandh against the Supreme Court-ordered action.

Police lathicharged protestors in an effort to clear a major roadblock at the Noida Crossing in East Delhi, where traders and Bharatiya Janata Party activists had assembled in large numbers.

Two companies of paramilitary forces were called in to control the situation at the major East Delhi intersection where the agitators deflated the tires of a few city buses, worsening the traffic situation.

The morning rush hour traffic was thrown out of gear and there were major jams at the busy stretches of Vikas Marg, Nizamuddin bridge, Malviya Nagar, Mandavali Road, Jail Road, Raja Garden and Uttam Nagar as traders held demonstrations

and rallies.

Incidents of stone-pelting by the protestors on the police were reported from Mayur Vihar and Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi.

Most of the major markets, meanwhile, continued to remain shut.

Private medical practitioners and nursing homes in the capital also joined the trade bandh, affecting health services in the city. Delhi Medical Association (DMA) President K K Kapoor, however, said emergency services will continue to be operational.

With the Supreme Court monitoring committee asking the civic body to resume the action against shops running illegally in residential areas from Thursday, the traders will meet on Wednesday to decide their future course of action.

The traders had earlier threatened that they could go on an indefinite strike if the government failed to bring the sealing drive to a halt.