Barricades put up at Sirhaul toll plaza lead to traffic snarl

Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway witnessed a four-kilometre-long traffic jam on Friday evening owing to the barricades put up by the Delhi Police at the Sirhaul toll plaza in the light of the farmers’ protest

Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway witnessed a four-kilometre-long traffic jam on Friday evening owing to the barricades put up by the Delhi Police at the Sirhaul toll plaza in the light of the farmers’ protest.

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The barricading started around 5pm, during peak traffic hours, resulting in commuters taking nearly 30 minutes to cross the four-kilometre stretch. The barricades were removed around 7pm, when the pile-up of vehicles had almost reached IFFCO Chowk. Heavy congestion, however, persisted until 8.30pm in the evening.

The barricading, however, was only done on the carriageway carrying traffic from Manesar towards Delhi while the opposite carriageway remained free of any major congestion.

At 5.44 pm, Gurugram traffic police also took to Twitter to alert commuters regarding the congestion. “Traffic congestion has been reported on NH-48 near Sarhol (Sirhaul) toll towards Delhi due to barricading by Delhi police. @TrafficGGM is on the spot to facilitate the traffic. Inconvenience caused is highly regretted (sic),” a tweet by Gurugram traffic police read.

Ingit Pratap Singh, DCP (South West) Delhi Police, said that the barricades were set up due to the ongoing farmers’ protest.“Barricades were set up at the Rajokri border as a precautionary measure. The practice will continue until the situation returns to normalcy,” said Singh.

Nearly four lakh vehicles cross the Sirhaul toll on weekdays daily.For several commuters travelling along the stretch, the congestion caused a major delay.“Crossing the expressway on Fridays always takes longer than usual. However, the congestion today was nearly double. Even the service lanes were equally congested. Right from IFFCO Chowk till the Rajokri flyover, there was heavy congestion due to the barricades put up by Delhi Police,” said Srishti Sharma, a resident of Dwarka in Delhi.

As part of the Republic Day security arrangements, Delhi Police officials had set up barricades ahead of the Sirhaul toll on Monday evening as well, resulting in a three-kilometre-long congestion stretching till the Atlas Chowk.