Closures still in place, snarls now a norm on Delhi’s borders

Since Tuesday, when restrictions were eased to allow movement of people during the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, Delhi’s borders with Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram have become hot spots of chaos.

Since Tuesday, when restrictions were eased to allow movement of people during the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, Delhi’s borders with Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram have become hot spots of chaos.

Traffic at the Sirhaul toll plaza bordering Delhi and Gurugram as police screen commuters before allowing them entry. (Yogendra Kumar/HT photo)

Serpentine queues of vehicles, drivers honking constantly and the respective state police turning back people from Delhi have become recurrent scenes, with both Uttar Pradesh and Haryana refusing to unseal the borders that were sealed last month to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

With the Covid-19 case count rapidly increasing in Delhi – it touched 11,659 on Thursday --- these states are insisting that allowing people from the national capital to enter would lead to a further spread of the virus.

In effect, for those living in National Capital Region (NCR), lockdown 4.0 had brought no relief to their lives or movement.

While the Delhi government has lifted the ban on passenger movement between Delhi and NCR, district administrations of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Sonepat and Faridabad are allowing only those with a valid interstate pass and essential service providers to pass through. Lack of clarity in rules adopted by the state governments has led to confusion and chaos at the borders.

Senior Delhi traffic police officers said over the past two days, severe snarls have been reported at the border areas. On Thursday, long jams were seen on the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway. Long tailbacks were also seen near Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad borders.

Near the Ghazipur border, too, vehicles began lining up from 5pm, trying to cross from the capital to Noida. S Aravindh, a banker who works in Delhi and lives in Noida Extension, said while he has a pass issued for “emergency services”, there is a long wait at the borders.

“The drive in the morning is still less cumbersome but by evening, on my way back to home (Noida), they (police) stop every car and argue with its occupants. They allow some and turn away the others,” Aravindh said.

Close to 1,000 people were turned back by the UP Police at the three entry points to Noida—UP Link road, DND Flyway and Kalindi Kunj—on Wednesday, according to Noida additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) Kumar Ranvijay Singh.

On Thursday, Noida authorities allowed the movement of advocates following a Delhi high court order directing them to do so.

Officials in Noida said they have sought clarification from the Uttar Pradesh government regarding the entry of people from Delhi. Till then, the borders will remain sealed.

“We are allowing people involved in essential services and those with valid passes to pass through. We don’t have directions to allow everyone to enter Noida so far. We allowed advocates to travel on Thursday after the Delhi high court’s directed us to do so. But we have asked them to get passes made. Nearly 1,000 people were stopped from entering Noida on Wednesday from Delhi,” ADCP Singh said.

Delhi traffic police washed their hands off the confusion saying they are allowing people from NCR towns to enter Delhi without restrictions.

“Since the Delhi government has allowed offices to function with a full workforce, we are not issuing any movement passes for intercity movement. However, there are restrictions at the borders because of which there are jams on the Delhi side. The governments of UP and Haryana will have to sort this out,” a senior traffic police officer said.

On Thursday, jams were reported since 4pm from National Highway-1, connecting Delhi to towns such as Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal, and NH-8 going towards Gurugram.

Swati Singh, a resident of southwest Delhi’s Dwarka, who works in Gurugram, said she was called to work from Monday, but asked her office to allow her to work from home. “There is so much confusion on crossing the border that it will be more productive to work from home. On Wednesday, I spent nearly an hour to cross over to Delhi,” Singh said.

Gurugram police commissioner Muhammad Akil said there were issues only during peak hours. “The challenge is only in the morning as people try to sneak in before office hours. Our teams are vigilant and barricades have been set up. We are closely monitoring the situation and changes will be made only after the pandemic has been brought under control,” he said.

Noida police are advising residents to check the status of restriction before entering Delhi without a movement pass.

But with railways scaling up its operations and the Centre all set to start domestic flights from May 25, residents of NCR say there should be some coordination between the state governments.

“Despite the relaxation in norms by the Centre, there is no coordination between various state governments in the NCR,” Rejimon CK, member of the Dwarka Forum, said.

Urban transport experts say relaxing restrictions, especially related to transport, in Delhi has little meaning until it is implemented in the other NCR cities.

“The influence area of a city (like Delhi) is much beyond the political or administrative boundaries. In the post-Covid scenario, there is a need to plan for Delhi Urban Agglomerate, which includes Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad etc. With Metro and other public transport between these cities yet to start, it is difficult to revive economic activity,” said Amit Bhatt, director transport, WRI India.

Transport experts say as people will have to take precautionary measures like social distancing, there is a need to have a detailed transport plan for the NCR.

“There are people who have to travel from Noida to Gurugram and are forced to take multiple passes from different authorities. There should be a single pass system for the NCR. This not only saves commuters’ time but also ensures smoother enforcement,” Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning at the School of Planning and Architecture, said.

The Delhi government said it has requested the UP and Haryana governments to lift the ban on commuter movement. Jasmine Shah, vice-chairman of Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, said, “We have requested the UP and Haryana governments to allow interstate movement of people now that the Centre has relaxed norms. Cities in the NCR, especially with which we share our borders, are interdependent. The stand taken by the governments is unfortunate. We have to now try and restore normalcy.”

KK Rao, Faridabad commissioner of police, said, “The situation was under control but after two people, including a doctor, who were frequently visiting Delhi, tested Covid-19 positive, only health workers and ambulances have been permitted to cross the border without movement passes.”