Police’s 2-km rule tests chaos theory; Mumbaikars caught in traffic jams

By Shashank Rao, Vallabh Ozarkar, Chaitanya Marpakwar

The order goes against the grain of relaxations offered under Mission Begin Again, say residents and union leaders; police say ‘misuse’ necessitated this action.

Conflicting messages on the easing of restrictions led to chaos on the roads on Monday. Traffic snarls at least 2 km long were reported at several places, especially on the Western Express Highway (WEH) as well as the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), as the police set up nakabandis to enforce their order to citizens to restrict themselves to a 2-km radius of their homes.


Barricades were placed at 150 checkpoints, and more than 30,000 vehicles were checked, slowing traffic down to a crawl for hours. The Mumbai police seized 7,680 vehicles and the traffic police 8,611 vehicles for violating the 2-km order as well as lockdown restrictions, and booked 680 motorists. On Sunday, 6,500 vehicles were impounded. Even vehicles with national/T-permits were seized. The confiscation of vehicles also contributed to the traffic jams; the vehicles occupied a whole lane at many places.

While exceptions to the 2-km rule are to be made for essential service workers, office-goers and those in need of medical attention, many motorists who met the criteria complained that they were, instead, harassed. Many also claimed that the police were forcing motorists to give an undertaking that they would even not step out of their homes till the pandemic subsides. “I was reaching my office in Powai in less than 30 minutes. On Monday, it took over one-and-a-half hours, 30 minutes of which were spent at the Thane toll naka alone,” said Sahil Devasthali, a resident of Thane.



AL Quadros, senior union leader who wrote to the transport department, alleged that taxi and autorickshaw drivers were in particular targeted.


The 2-km rule has also upset shopkeepers who had just resumed work. The BMC had revised its order on operations of shops on June 9, allowing all market areas to remain open for “full working hours” on alternate days, and also opened all 195-odd shops in civic-run markets last week.

The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association said the travel restriction has already resulted in a 5 per cent slump in business. “Many retailers could not go to their shops. More than 2 lakh shops were affected,” said Viren Shah, president of the association. “On the one hand, Mission Begin Again was announced to revive the economy and on the other, the police have ordered people to stay confined to a small radius.”



The Mumbai police, however, defended the new restriction. Police Commissioner Parambir Singh said the state government’s lockdown extension order issued on Monday, which allows citizens to only visit neighbourhood markets and bars long-distance travels for nonessential purposes, is in the same vein as the police’s directive. Pranay Ashok, the Mumbai police’s spokesperson, said the 2-km restriction was necessitated because many residents were “misusing” the relaxations offered under Mission Begin Again. “Everything is available in one’s neighbourhood— from markets to salons,” said Ashok, who is also the deputy commissioner of police (operations).



Renowned urban planner Sulakshana Mahajan, too, defended the police’s move. She said the restriction was in line with the planning of a sustainable city. “Ideally, one is not supposed to use a vehicle to travel 1.5-2 km. The logic is that people should walk, rather than take vehicles, while running errands.”