Farmers Movement Archive

Border sealing rumours cause border rush, jam

Rumours that the borders with Delhi are set to be sealed off caused a traffic jam at the Delhi-Gurugram border on the expressway around 2pm on Thursday, as Delhi residents working in the city rushed to their residences. Heavy barricading by the Delhi Police to check entry of visitors led to a long wait for commuters, with traffic remaining stuck for over an hour and a half.Heavy police deployment was visible in Gurugram along the highway, up to Bilaspur and at all border points, and major crossings in the city. Traffic movement was slowed down across the city due to checks and barricades set up at major points places. The traffic situation is likely to remain the same on Friday as police officials said that deployment and barricading at the border will continue.Jayant Baruah, who works in Gurugram, said that he rushed back after hearing news reports that borders of Delhi with other states will be sealed in the afternoon. “Not only me, but many colleagues also rushed back, but were caught at the Sirhaul toll plaza due to traffic jam. I spent around an hour to enter Delhi as a barricade set up on Delhi side held up vehicular movement,” said Baruah.Due to the traffic jam at the border point, many commuters decided to turn back near Udyog Vihar and exit the highway, but this compounded the problems on arterial roads and several vehicles got stuck. The situation eased only around 5pm, said police.Dipen Sharma, a commuter travelling to Delhi, said that the police should have a look at the vehicles at Sirhaul border and also use CCTV cameras to verify if they were local commuters or protesters. “The police officials just have to walk through the traffic to know that there are no protesters,” said Sharma.Traffic flow was at Sirhaul toll plaza was affected earlier in the day, especially on the carriageway leading to Delhi, as Delhi Police carried out a strict checking to prevent movement of farmers, who are protesting against the three farm laws passed by Central government.Traffic movement remained slow in other parts of the city as well due to barricading and checks set up by Gurugram police.A senior police official said that four deputy commissioners of police, nine assistant commissioners of police and 18 inspectors were deployed along with 800 police personnel at Kapriwas, Panchgaon, Sirhaul, Sohna, Bargujar, KMP Expressway and other strategic points to ensure normalcy in the city. “The deployment will remain the same on Friday to keep the situation under control. Congestion at Sirhaul toll plaza was witnessed for some time due to checking at border, but the situation became normal after some time,” said Subash Boken, public relations officer, Gurugram Police.Boken said that commuters should plan their travel as per the advisory issued by the district administration to ensure they do not face problems.

Hindustan Times

26-11-2020

Gurugram