Hundreds of farmers protested on the Delhi-Noida border on Friday afternoon, triggering traffic jams across the Delhi-NCR.
Traffic jams were reported across Noida till late night as police closed the DND due to farmers protest. There was a chaos among commuters as to use DND or not. There were several queries on the traffic police Twitter handle on the situation of the route leading to Delhi.
Hundreds of farmers protested on the Delhi-Noida border on Friday afternoon, triggering traffic jams across the Delhi-NCR. Theose who had planned to reach Jantar Mantar to join the protest were stopped at the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway, causing a huge traffic chaos. The farmer had to hault at the border as the DND was shut for all while the traffic was diverted. It is pertinent to mention here that the Delhi Traffic Police had issued traffic advisory prior to the protest.
The Delhi Traffic police had alerted people on the traffic situation on Friday however the decision to shut down the DND was taken after the farmers arrived on tractors-trolley to participate in the protest.
The Noida Traffic Police had also in the morning on their Twitter handle alerted commuters to take alternate routes, however they did not stop the farmers despite knowing the fact that tractor trolley's are not allowed in the National Capital.
The lack of coordination between Noida Police and Delhi Traffic Police was evident as commuters had a harrowing time. The major link road between Noida and Delhi was shut making the situation worse for people as a long car pile up was visible on the alternate routes. To cover a distance of around 12 kms from ITO to Film City in Noida commuters took as long as two hours, a distance usually covered in not more than 30 minutes.
"NCR traffic is getting worse day by day. I left my house in Greater Noida at 3:45 to reach rehearsals for a play at Defence Colony at 5:30. But, the police asked all the cars to take a U-turn from there. The queue of cars for the U-turn was long and people started driving in the wrong direction making the situation even worse. It was a complete mess and I chose to return home as the alternate routes were in a no better condition," said Kritika Bhatia, a theatre artist.
On being questioned on the traffic scenario, Delhi Police official said "The farmers had arrived on tractor trolleys which were prohibited. We asked them to come in buses and head towards Ramlila Maidan, but they decided to sit at the entrance of the DND and hence we had to shut it down. People were suggested alternate routes and the Delhi traffic police social media platforms did post updates,". The traffic police of both the states had advised to use alternate roads via Mayur Vihar and Kalindi Kunj for movement between Noida and Delhi to avoid inconvenience.
IN BRIEF
- The farmer had to hault at the border as the DND was shut for all.
- The decision to shut down the DND was taken after the farmers arrived on tractors-trolley to participate in the protest.
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