New Delhi, July 19 (IANS): A group of Lord Shiva devotees, or Kanwarias as they are called, Sunday disrupted traffic and damaged several vehicles in the national capital after two minor accidents, in which two of them were injured and the Ganga water a pilgrim was carrying was spilled on the roadside.

The 'Kanwarias', who annually trek to Haridwar city and walk back to their homes in distant places of north India with water from the Ganga river, blocked traffic at busy Punjabi Bagh road crossing and at Bawana in outer Delhi.

Vikas Kumar, a Kanwaria who lives in Mongolpuri area, was hit by a car near Punjabi Bagh. He escaped unhurt but the water pots he was carrying fell off and the Ganga water he fetched from Haridwar spilled on the road. "That led to a major agitation," a police officer said.

This made other Kanwarias angry and they blocked the main Peeragarhi-Punjabi Bagh road. They thrashed car driver Sonu Singh and overturned his car. Another car that was passing by was also damaged.

The locals alleged that police took a long time to reach the spot. Eyewitnesses to the incident said by the time the police reached the spot, Kanwarias had damaged three DTC buses, two Blueline buses and an ambulance.

The police took away Sonu Singh to a nearby hospital.

The Punjabi Bagh section of the Ring Road remained blocked for hours and as the Ridge Road too was closed due to the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Delhi University, west Delhi was cut off from some areas of the capital.

No one was arrested till late Sunday.

The other accident took place in Bawana area of outer Delhi in the morning.

"Rakesh and Sanjay were returning to their home in Haryana on their bike when a Blueline bus on Route number 708 hit them from behind. One of the men received severe injuries and their holy water (from the Ganga) too was spilled," a police officer said.

"The bus driver fled the spot after the accident. But the angry locals and the other Kanwarias who were passing by blocked the road for two hours. They also damaged the Blueline bus," he said.

Police brought the situation under control and rushed the injured to a hospital where they were stated to be out of danger.