NH9 lane towards Meerut to be opened at Ghazipur border for ambulances

The exercise is being carried out in association with the Ghaziabad police and there was no opposition to the move by the agitating farmers at least until late Sunday evening.

One carriageway of the National Highway 9, or the Meerut Expressway, from Delhi towards Uttar Pradesh is being opened for the movement of ambulances after it was blocked for months due to the ongoing agitation by farmers, the Delhi Police said late on Sunday evening.

Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (eastern range), said that the decision to open the carriageway was taken to facilitate the movement of ambulances, particularly those catering to Covid-19 patients. (HT PHOTO.)

Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (eastern range), confirmed the development and said that the decision to open the carriageway was taken to facilitate the movement of ambulances, particularly those catering to Covid-19 patients.

The officer said that the exercise was being carried out in association with the Ghaziabad police and there was no opposition to the move by the agitating farmers at least until late Sunday evening. “Farmers are anyway not occupying the carriageway that we are opening,” said Kumar.

The agitation spot, usually known as the Ghazipur Border, is actually two roads adjacent to each other -- the NH24 between Delhi and Ghaziabad, and the NH9 which is the expressway between Delhi and Meerut.

The farmers are occupying both the roads, but only those carriageways leading to Delhi.

The opposite carriageways of both the roads -- leading to Uttar Pradesh -- have not been occupied by farmers. Yet, those two carriageways were unavailable for motorists since the police had blocked them.

“Some days ago, we opened the NH24 carriageway towards Ghaziabad. Today, we are working to open the adjacent carriageway on NH9,” said Kumar.

The officer denied speculation in certain quarters that the police were suddenly working to get the agitating farmers evicted.