Hundreds of commuters were left stranded as traffic police halted vehicular flow on major thoroughfares.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other ministers also drove to the airport to see off the president. Their motorcade also affected traffic in the valley.
"The president's flight was during the peak hours. So the motorcade's impact was felt badly," said DSP Gyandendra Pakharin, spokesperson of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD). The president's flight to China was scheduled for 11:20 am.
MTPD said it took nearly 20 minutes for the president to reach the airport.
"But as there was also a returning motorcade of prime minister and other ministers, we were forced to halt the vehicles for some more time," said Pakharin. He said traffic in the valley was affected from 10 am to around 12 pm.
"I was going for a job interview. I was already nervous and the jam added to my anxiety. I was forced to take inner roads. It took me almost more than two hour to reach Kamaladi from Kaushaltar," said Kshitiz Adhikari, a resident of Kaushaltar. "People like me would not have suffered had the president been flown to the airport from his residence," lamented he.
Even after the vehicles were allowed to ply, it took more than two hours for the traffic to return to normalcy. Similarly, after the motorcade of the VVIPs, vehicular movement was affected by heavy rainfall that clogged roads due to poor drainage system.
The MTPD said vehicular movement was affected in areas like Jamal, Asan, Putalisadak, Singha Durbar, Bhadrakali, Tinkune, Bagbagazar and Kamaladi, among others.
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