Rakhi celebrated in city, traffic in knots

New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Female passengers were allowed totravel free in DTC buses on the occasion of Raksha Bandhantoday even as the DTC and the Delhi Metro pressed extra busesand trains in duty to handle the festive rush. Around 21.66 lakh people availed the metro services by8 PM, a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official said. Theridership in its network touched a new high of 33.6 lakhyesterday. The metro ran 106 extra trips today and yesterday inanticipation of this expected increase in number of commutersdue to the festivities. "Today on occasion of #RakshaBandhan, DTC offers freetravel for women in all buses," Transport Minister SatyendarJain tweeted. Heavy traffic was reported from across the city as peopleventured out in large numbers to meet family and friends andthronged the bustling markets. The free rides for females in the buses of DelhiTransport Corporation was available in the Delhi and NCRregion in non AC low floor, standard and cluster buses between8 AM and 5 PM. DTC, in a statement, also said that it put the maximumnumber of buses possible on road to cater to the extra rush ofpassengers. PTI SBRRG