I-Day, Rakhi rush hits traffic: Services on Blue Line hit by kite strings

“The cause of OHE tripping was found to be excessive kite threads getting entangled at multiple locations in this section. They were physically checked/ removed by maintenance team by patrolling the affected section. All kite manjha/threads were removed by 3.15 pm and normal train movement was restored on entire Blue Line thereafter,” a statement from DMRC said.

The area around India Gate was severely affected. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

DMRC officials said that services were run on both up and down lines in one loop from Kirti Nagar to Noida/Vaishali; and on a single line between Kirti Nagar and Janakpuri West, as the other line was being checked for manjha by a maintenance team.

However, services remained slow late till evening due to bunching of trains.

“It usually takes me 1 hour 10 minutes to reach Noida from Dwarka. Today, it took me an hour longer. Because of the slow service and Raksha Bandhan, trains were very crowded,” said Amita Prakash, who lives in Dwarka and had gone to Noida to meet her relatives.

DMRC records highest ridership on its lines on Raksha Bandhan. To meet the increased demand, it increases the frequency of its trains on this day.

Meanwhile, traffic was slow in Central Delhi as people gathered at India Gate in the evening and waterlogging was reported in a few parts of the city following heavy rain.

“Extra force was deployed around India Gate today and local police was present. This is done on days heavy footfall is expected in the area,” said Meenu Choudhary, Joint CP, Traffic.