Farmers protesting in Expressways turn crawlways, it may get worsen

Traffic was paralysed in the city on Tuesday morning as the Sirhaul border, one of the country's busiest, was choked by police barricades set up in anticipation of farmers 'Delhi Chalo' protest.

On the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, barricades restricted traffic to one lane of the carriageway towards the capital, triggering a tailback that stretched back to Jharsa, some 7km away, during the rush hour.

The highway, one of the three key bordeers between Delhi and Gurgaon, records mkovement of around 4 lakh vehicles on an average weekday.

Farmers Protest Live Updates - As farmers get closer to the capital on Wednessday, cops are likely to step up security measures at the borders, making it all the more difficult for commuters. On Tuesday morning, the choc-a-bloc on the expressway ended up steering officers-goers and other motorists to opt for alternative roads, also creating jams at Aya Nagar on MG Road and Kapashera on the Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road. By 10:30:AM, Gurgaon police reached out to their counterparts in Delhi are requested them to remove the barricades. They also assured Delhi Police officials that measures had been taken at the city's borders to prevent protesting farmers from entering NCR.

Delhi police heeded the request, clearing the carriage way of barricades and allowing traffic to go back to normal by noon, officials said. Suchita Das, who lives in Sector 40, said it usually takes her around 20-30 minutes to reach her office in Udyog Vihar. "It took 90 minutes to reach. The entire expressway was packed," she said. "Vehicles were hardly moving. It took me more than 2 hours to reach my office on Tuesday," said Prema Singh, a resident of Sector 15, who travels to Delhi for work. Service roads along the expressway remain blocked as Delhi Police have parked trucks filled with soil, concertina fence and other gear to quickly deploy if protesters manage to reach the spot. DCP (traffic) Virender Vij said the movement of vehicles was largely normal in other parts of the city. "We have made adequate arrangements to deal with the situation," he said.

Haryana Police has also stepped-up security on Gurgaon's borders with other districts, and state borders with Punjab and Rajasthan to block any movement of protesters. They are checkpoints at the Haryana-Rajasthan border in Rewari, gurgaon-Rewari border at Kapriwas, Rewari's Bawal on NH-8 and at the KMP Expressway in Palwal to cut access to NCR.

Police have also set up a control room in the city to monitor any incendiary content on social meedia. A similar control room was set up after communal riots in Nuh and south Haryana last year. DCP (South & Cyber) Siddhant Jain said a social media monitoring cell is monitoring posts on the farmer protests. "The cell is keeping a watch on any circulation of rumours or fake news that could flare up tensions," he said.

As the highway choked, the cops diverted vehicles through internal roads in Kaushambi, Indirapuram, Khoda Colony and Anand Vihar. But that hardly eased the situation for the commuters. The narrow roads not equipped to handle the traffic load, the internal sectors started to feel the heat in minutes as people negotiated markets, houses and even potholes. Amit Pandey, who was headed for work in Delhi, took the Anand Vihar route after getting stuck on the DME for almost 40 minutes. It took him another 30 minutes to cross the congested stretch near Satmola building.

"I have beem living in Indirapuram for the past 5 years. It takes me no more than 10 minutes to cross UP Gate. But for the past two days, I have been getting stuck every now and then because of police checks at the borders. Even an hour doesn't seem to be enough for a 10 minute journey," he told Times Of India Press. Sumit Singh was on his way to see his sister at a private hospital in Delhi. "She is supposed to deliver a baby any time now. And look  at me, I am stuck here for the past 10 minutes. I don't know when I will reach," he said near Media Housing building. The jam at UP Gate is eased around noon, as the traffic volume came down and Delhi Police opened another lane to allow two vehicles at a time.

At Anand Vihar too, the cops made a similar arrangement around 1:00:PM. But central Delhi-bound traffic from Ghaziabad and east Delhi still had to negotiate snarls triggered by the several layers of barricades on Ring Road.

On the Ghaziabad side, more than 50 cops and two quick response teams were deployed to guide traffic through the internal roads, said ACP Swatantra Singh. On Monday too, the stretch witnessed snarls as Delhi cops checked vehicles before letting them into the capital. Some 15 senior officers remained stationed at UP Gate from Monday night. "By Tuesday evening, the situation was almost normal. Cops in Delhi had also stopped checking each and every vehicle," said traffic inspector Santosh Singh. On Tuesday morning, a handful of farmers were detained at UP Gate and Duhai when they tried to march to Delhi forcibly. Police convinced them to return home.

Commuters fret and fume on choked roads as schedules go haywire

Tuesday morning began with a flood of queries on social media as office-goers, unsure about restrictions at city borders due to the planned farmers protest, asked traffic police in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida for updates about any road closures.

As the rush hour came, thousands across NCR were stuck in a spiral of jams, most of which began at the borders but created a trickle-down effect on other routes. Several commuters said they were forced to return home, cancel meetings and postpone scheduled events.

Some companies that anticipates chaos had already asked their employees to work from home. Others allowed their staff to leave early to avoid worse than usual rush hour traffic in the evening.

Some commuters said they reached their office two hours later than their reporting time as the Sirhaul border jam ended up congested as far back as Rajiv Chowk.

"My office is in Saket. It took me one hour just to cross the 10km stretch from Rajiv Chowk to MCD toll on the expressway. There was a point when I wanted to go back home, but the jam didn't allow any space for a U-turn," said Sanjiv Dhar, who operates an electronics business.

A sales executive at a sports equipment company, Shrey Gupta said he had to cancel his meetings. "I tweeted in the morning, tagging Delhi and Gurgaon traffic police on suggestions to commute to the capital for an 11:00:AM meeting. They didn't respond, but there were scores of replies on the tweet with pictures of jam-packed roads and police barricades everywhere. I am hoping I don't lose that deal because of NCR's ill-managed traffic," Gupta, a resident of Sushant Lok said.

Sharmila Bhatnagar, an HR executive with a multinational company, said all in-person meetings were postponed and her entire team decided to work from home to avoid the jams.

"After seeing news on TV and X (Twitter), it's safe to say that it was a good move," she said 

Residents also questioned the need for fortress-like security in Gurgaon ad Noida when protesting farmers hadn't even gathered in the cities. "Protesters can enter Haryana from Shambhu border, Dabwali border and Ambala. We don't understand why Gurgaon's roads are blocked," said Vikas Bhandari, a car dealer in Gurgaon who often commutes to Delhi.

Vidyanand Srivastava, a resident of Greater Noida West, was caught in a jam on DND Flyway. "I was stuck 100 metres the toll plaza gates and after about an hour, my car broke down. I was able to park it on the roadside with great difficulty and called a mechanic," Srivastava, who works as a store manager at a mall in Delhi, said.Rakesh Kumar, a Delhi based businessman, said he too got stuck on the DND Flyway. "Government is not able to decide on farmers's issues and people have to face this problem. Some of the commuters would have had emergency work, but everyone was stuck in the jam," he said.

Inundated with news of blockages and crammed routes, residents of NCR cities chose to stay home, leaving behind thinner than usual traffic by the evening.

"On a reegular weekday, I have to drive for atleast an hour and 45 munites to reach my home in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi. But today, the roads were clear and I reached I 35 minutes Most of my colleagues were working from home," said Lekha, a sales executive at a corporate in Gurgaon.