Border checks, barriers at Sirhaul and Aya Nagar lead to traffic congestion

The Gurugram Police on Tuesday placed barricades at the Sirhaul and Aya Nagar borders in order to prevent protesting farmers from reaching the national Capital,

The Gurugram Police on Tuesday placed barricades at the Sirhaul and Aya Nagar borders in order to prevent protesting farmers from reaching the national Capital, resulting in traffic congestion during peak hours.

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The police said they had received information that farmers from Rajasthan had entered Nuh through Rewari and Tauru and were trying to cross the Gurugram border to reach the Capital.Thereafter, Gururgam and Delhi police started checking commuters, following which vehicles started piling up. This resulted in a kilometre-long jam. The police said they had to eventually ease checking in order to decongest the stretch.

Astha Modi, the deputy commissioner of police (headquarters), said, “Traffic congestion was reported during the peak hours in the morning as we were checking suspected vehicles. The farmers were boarded in cars and had taken the Nuh route but did not cross the Sirhaul border. More than 50 police personnel were deployed at each border to ensure smooth passage for commuters,” she said.

Commuters had to face inconvenience during the morning hours, but the situation in the evening was relatively better. The police teams, however, continued to periodically check vehicles throughout the day.

Himanshi Mehta, a daily commuter to Delhi, said that she got stuck in a jam from Shankar Chowk to Rajokri in Delhi due to the checking by both police forces. “Only one lane was operational due to which only one vehicle could pass through the barricade at a time resulting in a jam. The journey from Gururgam to Delhi is becoming worse day by day,” she said, adding that police should make arrangements for daily commuters so that they are not stuck in traffic jams..

More than 100 personnel were deployed at the Gururgam-Delhi Expressway and kept a close watch on passing vehicles ferrying more than four passengers. According to the police, no farmer’s trolley or heavy vehicles crossed the borders.

Twenty police control room van were also deployed between Kherki Daula toll plaza and Sirhaul border to check passing vehicles. As per the police, more than 100 vehicles were stopped for checking.

The Gurugram Police regularly coordinated with the Delhi Police to streamline vehicular movement throughout the day.

Nikita Gehlot, the deputy commissioner of police (Manesar), said that the farmers had reached Tauru through Dharuhera. “Our teams were deployed at the borders and the stretches connecting other districts. No vehicle carrying farmers tried to cross the border through any route connecting Gurugram with Manesar or KMP. There was no congestion on the stretch any time of the day and commuters had a smooth passage,” she said.

According to the police, the additional forces were kept on the standby but situation at the borders remained peaceful throughout the day.

An additional force of more than 100 personnel was deployed on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway as they were suspecting farmers to take that route. However, no farmers used this stretch, said police.

The police said they were prepared with diversion plans and had even prepared maps for the routes, which were shared with the traffic police and police stations concerned. However, they were not required.

The border routes connecting Delhi, Rewari, Rajasthan, Nuh and Jhajjar were less affected, said the police.

An officer of Delhi Police said each vehicle entering the Capital was checked thoroughly, which slowed down the traffic. Deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Thakur said they had adequate police deployment at the borders with Gurugram and situation was peaceful throughout the day.