Ban on construction work in Gurugram to go on till Tuesday
The Supreme Courtmandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) on Saturday extended the ban on all construction work, operation of industries using coal and biomass (including brick kilns and barring power plants) till Tuesday. The ban had been enforced between November 1 and 10 as a measure under graded response action plan (Grap) to combat ‘severe’ air pollution levels.
The entry of trucks into Delhi that was closed from November 8 to 10 for the same reason will also remain suspended till Tuesday.
District administration officials said that they have apprised public bodies concerned to implement the latest directions of the EPCA. “Grap measures will extend till Tuesday and accordingly concerned public bodies have been alerted about this. We are continuing to monitor the air quality situation and have our enforcement teams ready,” said Munish Sharma, additional deputy commissioner.
Following EPCA’s direction, the Gurugram police had been stopping heavy and medium goods trucks (barring essential commodities) after Diwali at the Kherki Daula toll plaza, Bilaspur, Panchgaon and the spot below the Shankar Chowk flyover.
Gurugram police officials said they will ensure that traffic is not affected due to the trucks waiting at the city borders. They said they have been stopping trucks coming from Jaipur and Rewari at Panchgaon and Bilaspur Kalan and diverting them through Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway.
“This year, the KMP has given us the option of stopping trucks much before the entry to Gurugram at Bilaspur Kalan and Panchgaon. Even, if trucks make their way past these two points, a team of police officials has been temporarily deployed before the Shankar Chowk flyover to divert them. Hence, traffic would only be hampered marginally,” said Hira Singh, ACP (highways).
Traffic movement has not been affected on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway so far by the ban on trucks, with traffic police officials conceding that there was no congestion as presently the average volume of traffic was far lower than it is during working days. They attributed fewer vehicles to a public holidays this week.
Last year, when the ban on entry of trucks was implemented in November, both Sirhaul toll and Kherki Daula toll plazas saw three-kilometre gridlock as trucks were being stopped by officials at these points, leading to six-hour snarls. Subsequently, Gurugram police officials had started stopping trucks at Bawana, 60 kilometres from Gurugram and before the (KMP) Shankar Chowk flyover for diverting them which had controlled snarls at both the tolls.
Experts, however, said the extension on ban on the entry of trucks might have an impact on the flow of traffic at both Sirhaul and Kherki Daula toll plazas on Monday and Tuesday night when the trucks queue up to enter the city on way to the Capital.
“There are 11 entry points to Gurugram, even if the police are able to check the entry at four points, vehicles can still make their way into the city through other points such as Daulatabad, Gwal Pahari, Badli and Ghata. Hence, a possibility of trucks piling up on the e-way will continue to loom,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, the technical adviser of Haryana Vision Zero, a road safety initiative by the Haryana government.
As per Gurugram police estimate, more than 15,000 heavy and medium goods trucks enter New Delhi via Gurugram.
Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) officials also issued a notice that their drive against open waste burning, construction, and dumping of construction and demolition waste will be extended till Wednesday.
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