Ghaziabad commuters to use NH-9, Eastern Peripheral Expressway during Kanwar Yatra
The major impact of Kanwariyas will be on the Delhi-Meerut Road, used by commuters from Delhi, Ghaziabad to Meerut to move between the three cities and towards Uttarakhand
The traffic police will be making use of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) and National Highway-9 (NH-9) for diverting the short and long distance travellers during the upcoming Kanwar Yatra, starting July 22, Senior officers of the traffic police said on Monday, adding that apart from deployment of civil police, about 650 personnel from the traffic police will also police these routes.
Officers said on Monday that the major impact of Kanwariyas will be on the Delhi-Meerut Road, which is used by commuters from Delhi, Ghaziabad to Meerut to move between the three cities and also towards Uttarakhand.
“We plan to restrict entry of vehicles on the Delhi-Meerut Road from July 22 after considering the steps taken up by traffic police in Meerut. If the movement of Kanwariyas increases, the road will be closed fully to regular traffic. In such an event, vehicles going towards Meerut will take NH-9 from UP Gate and move further towards Hapur in order to go to Meerut and beyond,” said Veerendra Kumar Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic).
Likewise, the ADCP said long distance commuters who plan to go to Uttarakhand, Haridwar, etc, will take NH-9 and then move on to the EPE from the Dasna interchange.
“From there, they can move towards Baghpat and further towards Saharanpur and Haridwar. Likewise, vehicles going to places such as Bulandshahr, Aligarh, etc., can also take the EPE and move towards Gautam Budh Nagar from Dasna interchange. From there, they can further take the GT Road to move towards Bulandshahr and beyond,” Singh said.
Officers said the diversion routes will be finalised and rolled out soon and they will be policed by a contingent of civil police and 650 traffic police personnel, of all ranks.
The Kanwar Yatra is carried out during the Hindu calendar month of Shravan. Thousands of pilgrims move towards Haridwar to fetch Ganga water and return to their home towns, where they offer the water to lord Shiva at prominent temples.
Most Kanwariyas return by foot, on motorbikes/bicycles, cars and trucks and since most of them pass through Ghaziabad on their way back to states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, it is customary for the district to effect travel restrictions for a period of 10-12 days to ensure smooth traffic flow, said officials.
The officials have already identified four major routes which will see movement of Kanwariyas. These include a 30km route from Chhajarsi toll plaza on NH-9 to Sector 62, Noida; 35km route from Jani border (Meerut-Ghaziabad border) towards Tila Morh near Loni; a 45km route from Kadrababad (Ghaziabad-Meerut) border towards Delhi via Delhi-Meerut Road; and a 55km route from Meerut to Ghaziabad on the Delhi Meerut Expressway.
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