Residents of the Capital on Monday grappled with yet another day of all-too-familiar traffic snarls – particularly throughout central and south Delhi – as a series of issues compounded to cause widespread chaos across Lutyens’ Delhi and adjoining arterial roads. However, Monday’s traffic situation appeared to be significantly better than what the city has seen in the past week.
The primary source was VIP movement and route restrictions for Day One of the AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, traffic police officials explained. This was compounded by the rush of the ongoing wedding season and students heading to examination centres for board exams. Another, more unexpected factor, was ongoing repair work by Delhi Jal Board (DJB) following a burst water pipeline near ITO.
The chaos on Monday erupted despite the Delhi Traffic Police issuing an elaborate advisory a day earlier.
Long snarls were reported on radial roads through most of central Delhi – the India Gate C-Hexagon, Tilak Marg, Mandi House, ITO junction, Barakhamba Road, and Ashoka Road – with a cascading impact that covered vast swathes of central and south Delhi.
The carriageway outside Bharat Mandapam was choked nearly throughout the day as thousands of attendees queued for entry, leaving daily commuters hassled and vehicles crawling bumper-to-bumper.
With the summit scheduled until February 20, motorists are bracing for a difficult week of largescale VIP movements and rolling route restrictions.
“I usually take 25 minutes from Dhaula Kuan to Connaught Place but today it took me over an hour,” said Yogesh Verma, a private sector employee stuck at Sardar Patel Marg. “Traffic police were present but they couldn’t help much.”
On Sunday, traffic police warned of extensive diversions owing to convoys involving heads of state, ministers and international delegates. Restrictions are in place across large parts of central Delhi, particularly around Bharat Mandapam and the 10 hotels – eight in New Delhi and two in southwest Delhi – where foreign delegates are staying. These include Mathura Road (from Subramaniam Bharti Marg to the Lodhi Road flyover), Purana Qila Road and Akbar Road.
The advisory comes amid staffing constraints within the traffic police. Earlier this month, HT reported that the force operates with around 20% vacancy, and another 10% effectively unavailable daily owing to leaves and VIP duties.
Additional commissioner of police (traffic) Dinesh Kumar Gupta said the situation went smoothly on day one of the summit and police will ensure commuters and students who have to reach their board exam centres do not face any problem on Tuesday as well.
“It went smoothly and diversions were made at all necessary points including Neela Gumbad and Bhairon Marg. There was no big traffic jam because of the diversions that were made,” he said.
Many parents have already visited examination centres to check parking.
A parent of a Class 12 student, Ved Prakash Aggarwal, said he will keep alternate routes in mind. “My daughter’s centre is 8-9 km from our Minto Road residence. We plan to leave 30 minutes early and will consider alternate routes,” Aggarwal said.
Traffic was also hit on Vikas Marg, with slow-moving vehicles from Laxmi Nagar towards ITO due to ongoing DJB repair work following a burst pipeline in front of Vikas Minar. Police advised commuters to avoid the stretch, warning of further delays during peak hours.
Parts of Ring Road and Outer Ring Road were also impacted – both carriageways in front of Hyatt Regency hotel till Sarai Kale Khan, stretches on Mathura Road, Greater Kailash, Chirag Dilli flyover and outside Okhla metro station. Traffic was witnessed on Mahipalpur road throughout the day.
Traffic police said preparations include deployment of 15 DCPs and around 4,200 traffic personnel, with the city divided into 10 zones for monitoring.