Agnipath: Border checking jams Delhi-Gurgaon e-way

Barricades put up by the police and diversion of traffic to alternative routes--part of the security measures introduced in the wake of the nationwide Bharat Bandh call given to protest against the central government’s Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the armed forces-- saw vehicles piling up on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and commuters struggling for nearly two hours to make their way out of the heavily congested Sirhaul toll as well as Shankar Chowk on Monday morning.

According to traffic officials, the congestion at the Sirhaul toll plaza started after Delhi Police placed barricades on the main carriageway as well as the service lanes of NH-48 around 9.15am. The congestion at Shankar Chowk--around 2km before the Delhi-Gurugram border--occurred as the Gurugram traffic police diverted heavy vehicles (from where to where??)

At the Delhi-Gurugram border, Delhi Police officials could be seen stopping several vehicles, which they suspected may have protestors sitting inside them. “We received inputs from our intelligence branch that miscreants on tractors, buses and in private vehicles may enter Delhi and resort to torching of tyres and other untoward incidents. Our personnel deployed at the border points checked vehicles and detained many such miscreants. Traffic was disturbed for a couple of hours because of similar drives were carried out by our counterparts in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. By 10.30am, traffic flow was smooth,” said a senior Delhi Police officer, asking not to be named.

Such was the congestion at the two points that there was a huge queue of vehicles, approximately 3km, all the way from Sirhaul toll till Udyog Vihar and from Shankar Chowk to Iffco Chowk.

“I was stuck at Cyber City for over 20 minutes, vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace. I had to receive my relatives at the airport. Eventually, I had to ask them to take a cab. I turned back towards Gurugram due to the congestion,” said Kirat Singh, a resident of DLF Phase 4.

Both Gurugram traffic police and Delhi traffic police had cautioned commuters about the congestion and traffic diversion on NH-48 on Sunday evening after the Bharat Bandh call.

Officials from the Gurugram traffic police department and even daily commuters said that the traffic flow on NH-48 was way less than what is usually expected during the rush hours of Monday morning, possibly due to warnings issued by the two police departments.

Around 10.30 am, the Gurugram traffic police, through their official Twitter handle, asked commuters to use alternative routes such as Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, and Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway to head towards their destination. Around an hour later, they issued another update informing commuters that all barricading at the borders had been removed and traffic flow was normal.

Ravinder Singh Tomar, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gurugram, said Delhi Police removed the barricades around 10.45am and by 11.30am, traffic flow on the expressway was back to normal.

“For around two hours, traffic flow on the e-way was affected due to barricading by Delhi Police. Both Gurugram police and Delhi Police had issued an advisory on Sunday cautioning commuters to avoid NH-48. Moreover, we were able to manage the traffic situation by diverting heavy vehicles to other stretches,” said Tomar.

The DCP added that over 1,100 traffic personnel were deployed at locations such as Shankar Chowk, Givo Cut, Kheri Daula toll, Dhankot t-point, Garhi Harsaru Chowk, and Bajgehra for diverting heavy vehicles to stretches such as KMP, MG Road, and Gurgaon-Faridabad Road and the operation continued till 5pm as a precautionary measure.