Delhi Meerut Expressway traffic goes haywire as cops throw open undesignated exit
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.
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.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Panipat man kills three within 8 hours; arrested
The accused, Ashu, a resident of Panipat’s Nara village, killed the victims, reportedly his friends, between 8pm and 4am and travelled around 60km from the first crime scene in Matlauda of Panipat to Titawi in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli. The victims are Sonu, 26, who was working with a private contractor in a cement factory, and his two friends -- Monu, 25, of Nara village and Rakesh, 27, of Bhalsi village.
-
Delhi: Tools to help schools assess mindset curriculum impact
The Delhi government introduced the Happiness curriculum in 2018, Entrepreneurship mindset curriculum in 2019 and the Deshbhakti curriculum last year with the aim of inculcating problem-solving approaches among students and making them more self-aware, self-confident and socially responsible.
-
Delhi LG inspects drainage at flooding hot spots
While the LG appreciated the work done at Indraprastha and Pul Prahladpur, he was displeased at the drainage system at Minto Bridge, flagging “technical flaws” in the drainage system and warned that engineers concerned “will be held responsible and strict action will be taken in the event of waterlogging at the site.”
-
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs return to Mumbai after 11 days, show of strength with BJP
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the MLAs were informed about the election process for upcoming election for Speaker’s post. “They were told that the election will be held through a voice vote or they may have to stand up to vote for their candidate if asked,” said Mungantiwar.
-
Dry day pushes Delhi’s temperature up; IMD forecasts light rain for today
The weather department classifies rainfall between ‘trace’ and 2.4 mm as ‘very light rainfall’, as ‘light rainfall’ when it is between 2.5 mm and 15.5 mm, as ‘moderate’ rainfall when it is between 15.6 mm and 64.4 mm and as ‘heavy’ when it is over 64.5 mm in a single day.
