Farmers Movement Archive

Delhi: Travel borders on madness amid protests

NEW DELHI: From office goers and families that needed to reach Indira Gandhi International Airport or New Delhi Railway Station, people crossing the borders of Delhi from and into NCR cities were hit by a triple whammy on Friday: choked borders, exorbitant cab and auto fares and suspension of Delhi Metro services. Police curtailed movement at several places to prevent protesting farmers from entering the capital. Later in the day, when the farmers were given permission to come to Delhi, some of chaos eased out. By then, however, commuters had suffered. “I travel for work from Gurugram to Connaught Place. Aware of the traffic jams yesterday, I left two hours earlier than usual, but still ended up a couple of hours late,” said Kunal Bhatnagar. “We were totally stuck at the border and then at several spots in between. Returning home was another big problem.” A traffic police officer said that the borders at Dhansa, Jharoda Kalan, Tikri, Gurugram, Singhu and Chilla were closed for traffic movement due to the farmers’ protest. Apart from this, sections of Outer Ring Road, Mukarba Chowk, GT Karnal Road and NH 44 were also closed. There was heavy deployment of police at DND Flyway and the borders at Chilla, Tigri, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Kalindi Kunj and Singhu. At Huda City Centre metro station in Gurugram, factory worker Chandan Kumar was in great stress because he had to catch a train to Patna from Anand Vihar at 6pm. “But the cabs are asking for Rs 800 and even if I pay his astronomical sum, I’m not sure I will get there in time with the traffic congestion on the border,” Kumar fretted. At the Gurugram border, Anjali Yadav, a nurse who had just finished her 12-hour night shift at a private city hospital, was wondering how to get home to Saket. “I didn’t know anything about the protest. I will have to ask my brother to pick me up. I have no other means of transport,” she grumbled. In Noida too, long snarls were witnessed at the Chilla border, Jhundpura and DND as both Delhi Police and Noida Police put up barricades. Ramesh Kumar, who was going to Mayur Vihar from Noida, said, “The barricades at Chilla left little space for cars, resulting in huge jams. I had to idle there for 30 minutes.” Gagan Singh, a private firm executive going to Moti Nagar in west Delhi was similarly stuck for over 20 minutes. Tailbacks up to 2km were seen on DND Flyway till 11.30am, after which traffic eased following the farmers being allowed to enter Delhi. Protestors representing over 30 farm bodies had called a Dilli Chalo march to press their demand for the repeal of the recently enacted farm laws.

The Times of India

2020-11-28

Delhi