Farmers Movement Archive

Siege on borders adds hours to interstate travel from Delhi

NEW DELHI: For two months now, commuting in the city and travelling out of it has been a nightmare due to the farm protests. Reaching Delhi from Jaipur, normally a five-hour trip, now takes eight-nine hours through detours in Rajasthan and Haryana. Many close destinations have suddenly become farther by hours due to congestions and barricades on the roads. “I had to travel to Rishikesh with friends in the first week of January. I was the only one who could drive in this group, and what I thought would be a pleasant six-hour trip lengthened into a 10-hour hassle,” said Sahil Malik, a resident of west Delhi’s Hari Nagar. “We were diverted at Haridwar and had to take roads I have never heard the names of. Earlier, when I was driving out of Delhi, I was diverted to smaller roads leading to the border, but there were huge traffic jams on these roads.” For Karan Mathur, who recently went to Shimla for a wedding, the traffic congestion was a big mood spoiler. “There were cops who were diverting the traffic from Singhu border to Singhu Poll Tax Road, which was heavily crowded. We were told it was the only route for Shimla. For a trip that takes even hours, we spent more than 12 hours on the road,” said Mathur. A traffic police officer did not think the diversions would end soon. “There are major traffic diversions from the Singhu border, but the roads are jammed due to the increased traffic volume in the last two months,” said the officer. “It is best for people travelling to Chandigarh and Shimla or somewhere in that direction to take the Singhu Poll Tax Road.” Police had expected to see heavy traffic as is usual every year during December and January. “As we had apprehended, the traffic volume is very heavy these days and the ripple effect of this is being experienced by commuters on the arterial roads. We have increased the traffic police deployment on city roads to manage the vehicular load,” said another traffic officer.

The Times of India

2021-01-21

Delhi