Ghaziabad: UP Gate, a site of the farmer agitation against the Centre’s new farming laws, remains cordoned off on all sides but the traffic nightmare in Ghaziabad that Delhi Police’s fortification of the border and closure of roads triggered on Monday eased on Tuesday. The relief came through Hindon Canal Road and the Maharajpur border in Kaushambi, from which barricades were removed and traffic allowed to flow freely. On Monday, when the entire traffic in the area squeezed into Delhi through Anand Vihar, it had taken commuters hours to cross Kaushambi, resulting in massive traffic jams.
Among the five major border points for traffic between Delhi and Ghaziabad are UP Gate on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway/NH-9, Kaushambi-Anand Vihar, Apsara Border, Tulsi Niketan and Loni.
All along the farmers’ protest at UP Gate, the expressway had remained open for Ghaziabad-bound traffic from Delhi even as the other side remained shut. But after the Republic Day violence in Delhi, police sealed the expressway completely. This turned the canal road, which passes below the expressway and via the Ghazipur landfill to route traffic towards Delhi, into a lifeline for traffic that would normally take the expressway.
This road, too, was closed on Monday, which choked the entire Vaishali-Kaushambi-Indirapuram-Vasundhara region. “The massive traffic jam we witnessed on Monday was largely because of this reason. The traffic load was immense,” said SP (traffic) Ramanand Kushwaha. “There were jams at the other border points as well but those weren’t as bad as Kaushambi,” added Kushwaha.
Ghaziabad police said it was informed by Delhi Police that the border had to be sealed as there were apprehensions that farmers would try to march to Parliament. “Delhi Police cited precautionary measures to seal off their borders as farmers had earlier given a call to march to Parliament on February 1. We could not have done anything as they had acted within their jurisdiction,” said Kushwaha.
Dharmendra Kumar, CO (traffic) said that on Tuesday normalcy had somewhat returned on Ghaziabad’s roads as vehicular movement to Ghazipur from Indirapuram was allowed. “This helped ease traffic on Tuesday and the load on the Kaushambi section wasn’t that much,” said Kumar.
However, the closure of an entire section of the expressway means movement of patients between Ghaziabad as well as other west UP districts and Delhi has slowed down as ambulances negotiate internal roads to get to hospitals. This is leading to vital time being lost. “Many ambulances travel between the city and Delhi daily. But with the DME sealed, it is hard on patients,” said a doctor with the district hospital.