Shaheen protesters want SC order on safety if road opens

NEWDELHI:SHAHEEN Bagh protesters told the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors on Friday that if the road parallel to the demonstration site was opened for vehicular movement, the apex court should pass an order ensuring their security. To this, the interlocutors said the concerns would “honestly” be conveyed to SC. The protesters and interlocutors — senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — discussed the possibility of opening at least one carriageway of Road No 13A, which connects Delhi and Noida, and has been blocked since anti-caa protests broke out in December.

NEW DELHI: An electric multiple unit (EMU) on the existing rail network, increasing the frequency of trains on Delhi Metro’s airport line and slashing its fares and improving bus connectivity are some of the suggestions of an expert committee to decongest Dwarka subcity.

The inter-disciplinary subgroup constituted by Delhi Lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal last year submitted the report to him on February 18.

Traffic congestion on arterial roads, especially the three main road routes connecting the subcity with rest of the city, is a major cause of concern, a senior DDA official said.

Three main entry points — Dwarka Road (from National Highway-8 side), sector 21-Dwarka Link road (Urban Extension Road-ii) and Dabri Mor — get choked during peak hours.

According to the sub-group, the average travel time to commute from Dwarka to important work centres such as Connaught Place is more than an hour.

To address this problem, the sub-group has recommended a high-quality EMU service on the existing railway network. “The EMUS can operate on the existing railway line that will connect Dwarka with Bijwasan, Old Delhi and Ghaziabad. This will reduce the travel time to 45 minutes,” said an official.

Another important recommendation is to increase the frequency of trains on metro’s airport line and slash fare.

In the absence of good public transport network, a large number of Dwarka residents depend on private vehicles.

The expert group has recommended an upgrade of public transport.

“To reduce the traffic load on roads, the options of BRT or light rail could be explored. There could be more direct bus routes between the subcity and the important work destinations... the areas within 500m of metro stations approachable to pedestrians with easy six-min walk,” the group recommended.