Bandh call reduces traffic on Ghaziabad roads by 40%

Ghaziabad: The Bharat bandh call given by protesting farmers on Tuesday saw a substantial reduction in traffic on major city roads, as compared to normal days. The

Ghaziabad: The Bharat bandh call given by protesting farmers on Tuesday saw a substantial reduction in traffic on major city roads, as compared to normal days. The officials of the Ghaziabad traffic police said that traffic on roads was estimated to have gone down by about 40%.

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The majority the protest was concentrated at UP Gate, where the farmers lay seize of the Delhi-Ghaziabad carriageway. They vacated the area around 3pm; when the duration of the nationwide strike, which began at 11am, ended.

“As a result of the bandh call, people preferred not to move out and this considerably reduced traffic. We estimate that there was a reduction of about 40% of traffic on Tuesday, as compared to any normal day. The majority of our traffic personnel, about 70-80%, were deployed at UP Gate and other nearby borders with Delhi,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic), Ghaziabad.

Traffic officials said that the diversions, which were announced earlier in the wake of the blockade of Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageway, will continue and that people were advised to make use of Kaushambi-Anand Vihar border instead.

“I had to take an off from office and did not take any risk of getting stuck in protests or jams on the day of Bharat bandh. Even on regular days, there are long traffic snarls at Kaushambi-Anand Vihar border due to diversions. The traffic police should also consider opening the Hindon elevated road from Raj Nagar Extension to Indirapuram so that commuters can at least travel up to Indirapuram to get to trans-Hindon areas,” said Kuldeep Saxena, a resident of Shakti Khand in Indirapuram.

The 10.3-km Hindon elevated road has been shut for vehicles by the traffic officials from the Raj Nagar Extension side, as it takes commuters to UP Gate where farmers are holding protests. The other side of the elevated road – from UP Gate to Raj Nagar Extension – is, however, open.

“I had gone to Ghazipur (East Delhi) in morning and had to walk afoot as there were no autos since the Ghaziabad-Delhi side of highway is blocked. Since the other side also got blocked, I again had to travel afoot in the afternoon,” said Sushila Devi, a resident of Khoda.

On the other hand, the bandh call had no major impact on city markets as Tuesday is a regular weekly off day.

“About 40% of the shops were open in Indirapuram, even though it was a Tuesday – a weekly off for major markets in Ghaziabad. However, many shopkeepers had decided to open shop to make up for losses suffered during the lockdown. We are, however, sympathetic towards farmers and the government must continue to talk to them and some resolution must come through. Otherwise, continuing protests will hamper our businesses too,” said Pradeep Gupta convener of Vyapari Ekta Samiti – Indirapuram, a trader’ association.

“We had our weekly off day on Tuesday and a majority of markets, like Turab Nagar, Chopla, Gandhi Nagar, Maliwara and Ramte Ram Road, among others, were shut. But it was due to weekly off and not in support of farmers,” said Rajneesh Bansal, chairman of Turab Nagar Vyapar Mandal.

In Modinagar, members of several political parties staged protests on the Delhi-Meerut Road and tried to block the road.

“They were prevented from doing so and normal traffic was restored. There were no other disruptions on roads on Tuesday,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.