HINDUSTANTIMES, NEWDELHI 04 | metrospecial | hindustantimes WEDNESDAY,AUGUST18, 2010 46 DAYS TO GO my delhi first my games FORBIDDEN CITY SECOND OF THREE PARTS COMMONWEALTH GAMES2010 Gamesget alane, youget ajam

JAMMING DELHI From September 20 to October 16,with moretraffic restrictions and one lane less to driveon, Delhiites will have a tough time going from one place to another

Atul Mathurand Subhendu Ray to the Games village and from thereto ■ [email protected] the sporting venues. The only Delhi citizens whowill be NEWDELHI: Toughisamild word to able to use these dedicated lanes will describe what the traffic situation will be the President, the Vice-President, be around the Commonwealth Games. the PM and the home minister.“The Foramonth, starting September 20, vehicles of other VIPswill not be thanks to certain traffic restrictions, allowedonthe dedicated lane,” asen- morethan 300 km of Delhi’sroads will ior traffic policeofficer said. shrink by one lane.Ifyou thought traf- Most of the roadsthatfall on the fic in Delhi wascrazy,wait and watch, Airport-Games village route aretwo- it’ll getcrazier still. lane and carry almost double their Driving across the cityduring that capacity. Asingle breakdown on these one month, you’ll wish youcould fly routes causes traffic snarls. instead—not only is it going to be tough, “You will have to bear the pain till it’s going to be Herculean task. the games areover,”admitted Ajay Severalarterial roads—mainly in Chadha, specialcommissioner of police south and —thatwitness (traffic), Delhi Police. “Wecannot offer hugetraffic,will have one lane less for youasmooth driveonmanyDelhi roads the same volume of traffic.Painted in whereweare going to ahavededicat- blue,white and yellow, this lane will be ed lane forthe Commonwealth Games reserved to transport athletes and offi- participants and the VIPs.” cials of the 71 coun- Worrying,isn’t it?With morethan TOMORROW tries participating in six million vehicles registered and lit- the Games from tle addition to the road network,traf- Unskilled labourers are October 3-14. fic jams areadaily affair.With so many planting trees to beautify Notjust that. On traffic restrictions in place during the the City’s roads. Theresult: October 9, the traffic Games, residents expect the cityto the plants wilt and die and policewill shut down come to almost astandstill. makethe roads look ugly. a20-kilometreroad No wonder then thatmanyDelhiites network in the heart arealready planning an exodus. of the citytofacilitate the ‘walk race’. “Thereare going to be manyrestric- On October 10,all of Connaught Place tions on movement in the cityduring and the roadsleading to it will be off- the Games. We don’t want to be stuck limits formotorists as the cycling event at home with nothing to do.Weare will be underway here. And on October going to Kerala in October.Our chil- 14,CPwill again be shut to facilitate dren’s schools will also be closed, ”said the Marathon race. Adesh Gupta, an IT professional. While the Games will last just 12 days, Even TrafficPoliceisasking Delhiites the restrictions arelikely to be put in to use the public transport during that place from September 20 when the ath- time.Those planning to watch the letes and officials start arriving.The Games can takeabus or ametroto restrictions will remain till October 16. reachthe venues. Senior traffic policeofficerssay,there “DTC buses will go up to the games will be complete traffic restriction on venues. Metrostations arenear the the dedicated lane between the Ashoka venues. No parking will be allowednear Hotel and Nizamuddin—a route they the venues,”Chadha said. refertoasthe ‘central spine’—from Jehangirpuri- September 20 to October 16. TALK TO US Central Sectt DELHI However, lane restrictions will be ■ What areyou going to do during the Metro enforcedonadaily basis depending on Games—drive in Delhi or leave Delhi? athlete and VIP movement along the Write to us at Rithala Jehangirpuri roadstheywill takefromthe airport [email protected] Inderlok- Vishwavidyalaya MundkaMetro Rithala-Dilshad Dilshad ■ Painted in blue, ■ With one full lane dedicated forthe DU Rugby Garden Metro Garden whiteand yellow, Mundka ground Commonwealth Games,Delhi is likely such lanes will be Inderlok ISBT to lose nearly 300 km of travelling reservedfor the space. Already atraffic jamcity, athletes and Punjabi Bagh IG sports Yamuna Vaishali things arelikely to getworse and end Dwarka-Anand N.D.Rly complex sports officials. complex up lookinglikethis scene from SONUMEHTA/ HT PHOTO Vihar- Stn Connaught PlaceonTuesday. Talkatora I.P. Hindon Metro Vikaspuri Akshardham Anand SONUMEHTA/HTPHOTO indoor stadium Estate Vihar river Najafgarh N.D.Rly Stn- Central NH-24 IGI Airport Sectt Games village Metro Maj. DhyanChand stadium NOIDA JLN Mayur Sector-32 Thyagaraj stadium Vihar City Center Dwarka IGI Airport stadium Games lane: INA Yamuna AIIMS river No traffic will be Airport Road R.K. Khanna Hauz allowedonthe dedi- Sirifort cated Games lane. It stadium Khas complex Central Sectt- will be used only to Badarpur ferry athletes and BUSESTOBEUSEDFOR THE GAMES NH-8 Metro METRO SHUTTLESERVICE Tughlaqabad officials from the air- Central spine port to the Games Metroshuttle service (buses 300 AC buses to be used for the CWGathletes Palam Vihar Badarpur of games Village and the from these metrostations will 150 AC buses for international media staying at three hotels route venues. drop younear various venues) Karni Singh 124 AC buses for technical officers staying at Vasant Kunj flats Sangam ■ JORBAGHMETRO STATION: Sushant Central Sectt- shooting Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium 1,200 Low-floor non-ACbuses for spectators Vihar range Lok-I Sushant Lok ■ UDYOGBHAWAN, CENTRAL 200 Old DTCbuses for culturaltroupes (for opening &closing ceremonies) Metro SECRETARIAT, MANDI HOUSE (same bus): DhyanChand National Stadium 625 Old buses for security personnel Distance Games venue Nearest metrostation GAMESVENUES ■ PRAGATI MAIDAN: National Stadium 0-1 km Commonwealth Games Village Akshardham ■ R.K. ASHRAM MARG: Talkatora Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium JLN Stadium AND METRO ■ PATEL CHOWK: Talkatora Vishwavidyalaya 14 12 32 STATIONS ■ KARKARDOOMA: Yamuna Sports 1–1.5 km Thyagaraj Stadium INA metrostation Complex Sports Complex Number of metrostations to which Number of trans- Number of focal points ■ ANAND VIHAR :Yamuna Sports Complex DTC will provide ‘metrofeeder’ port hubs from in Delhi and NCR from 1.5-2 km Major DhyanChand National Stadium Pragati Maidan ■ GREEN PARK: R.K. Khanna Tennis service from neighbouring colonies, whereDTC will wherebuses will be avail- IndiraGandhi Sports Complex Indrapastha Estate Complex which arePeeragarhi metrosta- provide buses to 12 able to these transport hubs tion, Rithala, Azadpur and games venues; 5of Above 2-km TalkatoraIndoor Stadium Jhandewalan ■ : IGI Stadium Jehangirpuri, Subhash Place, these areKashmere Park and ride facility at 6points: Yamuna Sports Complex Anand Vihar ■ PRAGATI MAIDAN: IGI Stadium Safdurjung Airport Terminal, Baba Mundka, DwarkaSector-9, Shivaji Gate ISBT,Anand RKTennis Complex AIIMS ■ TUGHLAQABAD, BADARPUR: Karni Singh Park, Rajouri Garden, Mayur Vihar Vihar ISBT,Dhaula Kharak Singh Marg, DDAsports complex >5-km Dr Karni Singh shooting range Tughlaqabad ■ GREEN PARK: Siri Fort Extension, Dilshad Garden, Anand Kuan, Nehru Place Hauz Khas, Shanti Van, Kant Enclave and Vihar, Yamuna Bank, Nehru Place, and Shivaji Stadium Adilabad Fort; Shuttle buses from these parking lots ■ MOOLCHAND: Siri Fort and Saket metrostations. will covervarious Games venues. Graphic: SANJAY KAPOOR

HOW MELBOURNE,ATHENSAND BEIJING MANAGEDTRAFFIC DURING THE GAMESTHERE

MELBOURNE CW GAMES, 2006 ATHENS OLYMPICS 2004 BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 In Melbourne, public transportwas the pri- At Athens, the organisers turned to technol- Half of the city’s 3.3 million vehicles were mary mode of access for spectators and for ogytosolve the traffic mess. Thesignal sys- pulled offthe roads during the Games. It was people who wanted to enjoythe cultural tem got an upgrade and traffic control cen- ahighly stage-managedOlympics aimed at programme at the opening and the closing tres and variable messagesigns wereinsta- displaying the rising power of the 21st centu- ceremonies. Efforts weremadetominimise lled to rid the city of traffic jams. “Olympic ry.For twomonths, vehicles wereallowed on private vehicle useand maximise public lanes” werecarved out of roads for the Oly- the roads every alternateday depending on transport, walking and cycling to the ven- mpic family —athletes,delegates and VIPS. even-odd registration numbers. In addition, ues. Trams and buses got priority over mot- Forthe spectators, special express buses 300,000 heavy polluting vehicles —aging orists. Games’ ticket holders weregiven wereplied to ensureunhindered flow.Par- industrial trucks, manyofwhich operate only free travel on public transportonthe dayof king controlzones(ZES) were defined aro- at night —werebanned. Special Olympic their event. Public transportwas also free undthe venuestodiscourageprivate cars. In traffic lanes wereput in place, on which only during the Games period for athletes and thesezones, parking wasallowed only for Games vehicles plied. Therewas 165 miles officials, Games staff and volunteers. Four- residents and employees who weresupplied of roadway on which certified Olympic vehi- ■ During the Melbourne Games,pub- ■ In Athens,organisers used tech- ■ Beijing pulled half the city’s vehi- lic transportwas promoted. teenof16sportsvenueswerewithin3km nology to solvetraffic mess. with special cards. In some areas, aspecial cles offthe roads and dedicated a cles wereallowed to movefromhotels, radius of the central business district. bus lane for normal buses wascreated. Olympic venues and Athletes Village. GETTY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES lane forthe Olympics. GETTY IMAGES