Delhi Meerut Expressway traffic goes haywire as cops throw open undesignated exit

The traffic police removed the cemented barricades near ABES Engineering College (near Crossings Republik). Police said that they have taken the step to prevent traffic jams which have resulted due to the pending construction of a 16-lane rail-over-bridge (ROB) at Chipiyana

Thousands of vehicles on Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) are having a free run after traffic police ripped open a portion of the expressway and removed barricades near Crossings Republik.

Vehicles pass through a undesignated exit on Delhi Meerut Expressway on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali/ HT)

Sources said that the move by Ghaziabad traffic police has not gone down well with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the agency that maintains the DME. It has also written to district officials and raised concerns.

The DME comprises 14 lanes, which include three inner lanes on each side as expressway lanes and meant for fast-speed vehicles, while the six outer lanes are highway lanes. The expressway lanes are separated from the highway lanes with cement blocks.

The traffic police removed the cemented barricades near ABES Engineering College (near Crossings Republik). Police said that they have taken the step to prevent traffic jams which have resulted due to the pending construction of a 16-lane rail-over-bridge (ROB) at Chipiyana.

“There has been a prevalence of long traffic jams on the highway due to the under-construction ROB. So, we removed the cemented barricades in order to streamline the traffic,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic).

However, the undesignated exit has compounded problems for NHAI as two-wheelers and other slow-moving vehicles have started entering the expressway lanes. NHAI project director Arvind Kumar was not available for comments but he referred the matter to another officer.

“Many vehicles enter through the undesignated entry and we face issues when they reach some toll point. It is estimated that about 4,000 vehicles face toll issues on a given day and it is also causing loss of revenues. The decision of the traffic police has created a undesignated cut and we have written to the district administration and police to get the matter sorted out at the earliest,” said Puneet Khanna, manager (technical), NHAI.

Khanna said that the authority is in the process of taking blocks (designated hours allotted by railways during which construction can be taken up while holding the rail traffic) from the railways and if it is allotted, the ROB will be completed in two months.