Massive traffic jams marked the first day of the New Year in the State capital today.
Most important arterial roads in the city witnessed massive traffic jams, thanks to the residents coming out to visit temples and perform prayers on the first day of the New Year.
Several people parked their vehicles on the roads due to lack of parking facilities, aggravating the snarls. Road nos 12 and 13 of Banjara Hills witnessed some of the heavier jams. Traffic moved very slowly on Road No 12 from NTR Bhavan to Telangana Bhavan as devotees flooded the Puri Jagannath temple.
Vehicular traffic was seen moving slowly from KBR Park to the Jubilee Hills Check Post Road too since 11 am. It took 45 minutes to cover a distance of ten minutes.
Residents alleged that lack of arrangements by the city traffic police led to the traffic jams.
Meanwhile, several important temples were flocked by people from the early hours. Devotees formed queues at the famous Chilkur Balaji temple to perform prayers. The officials of the temple said that they were expecting a turnout of one lakh devotees to the temple on the day. They imposed restrictions on the circumambulation of the devotees at the temple due to the huge turnout.
Devotees also flocked the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadadri, and it took four hours for people to get the free darshan. The special darshan took two hours.
The Warangal-based Bhadrakali temple also witnessed a huge number of devotees. Devotees from Karimnagar and Adilabad districts also visited the temple and performed pujas.