NEW DELHI/NOIDA/GURGAON: Heavy barricading and strict checks by Delhi Police in the wake of Punjab farmers‘ Delhi Chalo call choked all roads leading to the capital on Wednesday morning.
At Sirhaul, Kapashera and Aya Nagar, the tailback stretched several kilometres as cops allowed only one vehicle to enter the capital at a time and shut out most lanes.
In Gurgaon, the rush hour snarl started to ease around 11am, when city cops asked their Delhi counterparts to remove the barricades and allow more vehicles. This was the second time since Feb 13 that the city police had to do so after a heavy jam in Gurgaon.
On the other side of NCR – at UP Gate in Ghaziabad – the situation was no different. As police checked each and every vehicle, the queue stretched almost 5km. Among the stuck vehicles was an ambulance, which was eventually guided through the traffic by the cops. In Noida, traffic snarls were reported on the DND Flyway, Chilla and Kalindi Kunj during the morning rush hour.
The barricading at the borders had a ripple effect within the capital too, with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace on roads to Noida and Gurgaon. VVIP movement around Rajghat and Rashtrapati Bhavan added to the woes as cops advised commuters to avoid roads leading in and out of ITO.
Traffic on the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway had started to build up from 7.30am as people left their homes early, anticipating a snarl. With only one vehicle allowed at a time, the tailback had stretched well beyond IFFCO Chowk at 10.30am. The internal roads, too, had started to feel the heat.
With traffic in the city coming to a crawl, a team of Gurgaon cops reached the Sirhaul border and urged Delhi Police to remove the barricades.
DCP (traffic) Virender Vij agreed there was congestion on the internal roads as well. “The situation, however, became normal towards the latter part of the day,” he told TOI.
With little option but to stay in their cars amid bumper-to-bumper traffic, commuters voiced frustration about repeated snarls on the highway since last week, though the protesting farmers are still in Punjab
Sadeep Mehta was stuck in the snarlin Gurgaon for more than an hour. “We have been reading in papers that the situation in Gurgaon is normal. Then, why are the borders choked,” he sought to know.
Kandarp Arora of Sector 84 said police should have alerted people in advance if they were planning such strict checks at the borders. “Unannounced blockades only disrupt work and travel plans,” he added.
Roads around UP Gate in Ghaziabad had started to choke as early as 8am, as cops diverted traffic from NH9. As Delhi Police opened only lane of the highway and checked every vehicle entering the capital, the queue started to grow longer.
Commuters sought to know why cops had put up barricades at the borders when farmers in Noida and Ghaziabad had announced they would march to the local collectorates.
Raghunath Singh, who was on his way to work in Karol Bagh, was stuck at UP Gate for almost 40 minutes. “Unlike other days, I left home as early as 8am. I don’t know what good sealing the borders will do. And why should they allow only one vehicle at a time?”
A Delhi cop deployed at the border said they had clear instructions not to stop any emergency vehicle. “For instance, we immediately made way for an ambulance that was carrying a patient with his family to hospital,” he added.
In Delhi, traffic snarls were reported around ITO because of VVIP movement. Stretches leading to Gurgaon also saw jams at Rajokri and Sarhol in southeast Delhi. At Rajokri, more than 15 lanes had long tailbacks, gradually clearing towards the latter part of the day.
There was congestion on the DND Flyway too. The borders at Singhu and Tikri remain sealed with heavy deployment of security forces. Another concrete wall was erected at Singhu on Tuesday night as things heated up at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.
At Sirhaul, Kapashera and Aya Nagar, the tailback stretched several kilometres as cops allowed only one vehicle to enter the capital at a time and shut out most lanes.
In Gurgaon, the rush hour snarl started to ease around 11am, when city cops asked their Delhi counterparts to remove the barricades and allow more vehicles. This was the second time since Feb 13 that the city police had to do so after a heavy jam in Gurgaon.
On the other side of NCR – at UP Gate in Ghaziabad – the situation was no different. As police checked each and every vehicle, the queue stretched almost 5km. Among the stuck vehicles was an ambulance, which was eventually guided through the traffic by the cops. In Noida, traffic snarls were reported on the DND Flyway, Chilla and Kalindi Kunj during the morning rush hour.
The barricading at the borders had a ripple effect within the capital too, with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace on roads to Noida and Gurgaon. VVIP movement around Rajghat and Rashtrapati Bhavan added to the woes as cops advised commuters to avoid roads leading in and out of ITO.
Traffic on the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway had started to build up from 7.30am as people left their homes early, anticipating a snarl. With only one vehicle allowed at a time, the tailback had stretched well beyond IFFCO Chowk at 10.30am. The internal roads, too, had started to feel the heat.
With traffic in the city coming to a crawl, a team of Gurgaon cops reached the Sirhaul border and urged Delhi Police to remove the barricades.
DCP (traffic) Virender Vij agreed there was congestion on the internal roads as well. “The situation, however, became normal towards the latter part of the day,” he told TOI.
With little option but to stay in their cars amid bumper-to-bumper traffic, commuters voiced frustration about repeated snarls on the highway since last week, though the protesting farmers are still in Punjab
Sadeep Mehta was stuck in the snarlin Gurgaon for more than an hour. “We have been reading in papers that the situation in Gurgaon is normal. Then, why are the borders choked,” he sought to know.
Kandarp Arora of Sector 84 said police should have alerted people in advance if they were planning such strict checks at the borders. “Unannounced blockades only disrupt work and travel plans,” he added.
Roads around UP Gate in Ghaziabad had started to choke as early as 8am, as cops diverted traffic from NH9. As Delhi Police opened only lane of the highway and checked every vehicle entering the capital, the queue started to grow longer.
Commuters sought to know why cops had put up barricades at the borders when farmers in Noida and Ghaziabad had announced they would march to the local collectorates.
Raghunath Singh, who was on his way to work in Karol Bagh, was stuck at UP Gate for almost 40 minutes. “Unlike other days, I left home as early as 8am. I don’t know what good sealing the borders will do. And why should they allow only one vehicle at a time?”
A Delhi cop deployed at the border said they had clear instructions not to stop any emergency vehicle. “For instance, we immediately made way for an ambulance that was carrying a patient with his family to hospital,” he added.
In Delhi, traffic snarls were reported around ITO because of VVIP movement. Stretches leading to Gurgaon also saw jams at Rajokri and Sarhol in southeast Delhi. At Rajokri, more than 15 lanes had long tailbacks, gradually clearing towards the latter part of the day.
There was congestion on the DND Flyway too. The borders at Singhu and Tikri remain sealed with heavy deployment of security forces. Another concrete wall was erected at Singhu on Tuesday night as things heated up at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.