Come April 1, no more e-rickshaws on NH-9

The Ghaziabad police department on Sunday directed traffic police to seize or challan e-rickshaws plying on national highway-9 from April 1 to ease congestion on the highway

The Ghaziabad police department on Sunday directed traffic police to seize or challan e-rickshaws plying on national highway-9 (NH-9) from April 1. The move aims to ease congestion on the highway.

If any e-rickshaw is seen on national highway-9 from April onwards, Ghaziabad police will take action against it and the e-rickshaw will be seized. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

According to officers, Ghaziabad has approximately 9,000-10,000 e-rickshaws, many of which operate on NH-9 and travel to areas such as Vijay Nagar, Pratap Vihar, Indirapuram, and Vasundhara.

“These e-rickshaws have recently become a major concern for commuters in fast-moving traffic, causing traffic congestion at seven major points near NH-9. Given this, we have prohibited the entry of these vehicles on NH-9 beginning April 1. Their drivers must comply,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, assistant commissioner of police (traffic).

The police have identified six congestion points on NH-9: Vijay Nagar t-point, Kanawani Pushta Road, Tigri t-point, petrol pump near Crossings Republik besides Kala Patthar, CISF intersection, and Shipra intersection in Indirapuram.

“From April 1, we will start penalising e-rickshaw drivers, and in certain cases, we may also seize their vehicles if they do not comply with our directives. We have also begun installing ‘e-rickshaw u-turns’ at the seven points and have communicated with our Noida counterparts to implement similar measures on the Noida stretch of NH-9,” Kushwaha added.

According to Dilshad Ahmad, president of Ghaziabad Autorickshaw Chalak Sangh, the e-rickshaws should be used only on internal city roads to provide last-mile connectivity to local commuters.

“The traffic police move was inevitable given that many e-rickshaw drivers relocated to NH-9 when the government redeveloped it two years ago. There has recently been a lot of traffic congestion due to these slow-moving vehicles. The police should also establish internal routes for e-rickshaws. Such slow-moving vehicles on the highway endanger passengers and slow down traffic flow,” he added.

The NH-9 stretch in Ghaziabad is part of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which opened in April 2021. The 19.8km stretch of the expressway from UP Gate to Dasna sees an estimated 60,000 passenger car units per day (including NH-9).

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway has three inner lanes on each side, while the four outer lanes on each side are for NH-9. The highway lanes serve commuters from Ghaziabad and Noida.