India, Oct. 19 -- Serpentine snarls, with vehicles running bumper to bumper for around two kilometres, marred the roads leading to the Gadoli cracker market on Saturday, as the sale of green firecrackers started on Saturday morning across Delhi-NCR as part of the regulated Diwali celebrations. The situation was so severe that vehicles spilled onto the internal roads of Gadoli village, inconveniencing villagers and throwing their daily lives out of gear.

The situation was exacerbated at the wholesale market as amid authorised sellers, unlicensed traders also started setting up stalls by late afternoon due to lax checks on the ground. Traffic was also unregulated on routes from the Dwarka Expressway service road and Old Gurugram, as people...