Eastern E-way

At the Dasna entry point on National Highway 24, lorries and container trucks were seen making U-turns, reversing their vehicles, and driving on the wrong side to get on to the expressway, which threw traffic into chaos.

There was a police post just metres away, but no official seemed to be stationed there.

Drivers complained that if they missed these diversions, the next checkpoint is at least 25km away, at the toll booths at the Delhi border — from where they would be turned back. For traffic coming from Meerut at the DelhiMuradnagar entry point, an entire lane of the loop towards Palwal and Dasna was blocked by huge rocks, which confused some drivers into thinking the loop wasn’t yet operational.

“It seems that the loop is not in use, but there are a few vehicles that are crossing it. We weren’t sure so we chose to avoid it,” said Iqbal Khan, a truck driver who was travelling from Meerut to Jaipur, and couldn’t find his way to the EPE.

The lack of adequate streetlighting on these points had turned this section into a safety hazard, with vehicles abruptly stopping at the foot of the rocks. There were no traffic personnel or NHAI assistants to help drivers find their way at this entry point.

The Ghaziabad Police agreed that their traffic management at entry points could have been better. “The trucks from Ghaziabad city are being diverted to the expressway. However, due to some finishing work at the interchanges, the trucks coming from Hapur and Meerut could not go to the expressway. If we had diverted them from a different route, it would have created congestion on our road,” said SN Singh, superintendent of police (traffic).

A 2016 study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shows that around 150,000 commercial vehicles use Delhi as a thoroughfare. These vehicles, besides adding to the traffic problems, contribute significantly to the pollution. Last year, during a period of heavy smog in November, the entry of such vehicles had been banned for a fortnight.

Along with t he western peripheral expressway, the EPE creates a freeway ring around Delhi that such commercial vehicles can use to get to the other side of the national capital without having to go through.

When the ~11,000-crore project was inaugurated, the NHAI had announced that there would be enforcement teams at each entry point in the initial period after inauguration, to guide commuters to their desired route. The NHAI had also said that 1.5 lakh vehicles would use the expressway, but according to initial data, only about 10,000 vehicles are using the new highway every day, said an official who asked not to be named..

NHAI officials said that things will improve in the next fortnight. “A concessionaire is operating and observing the expressway. It will be handed over to us in 15 days. Things will improve once our toll staff is stationed,” a senior NHAI official, requesting anonymity. The NHAI declined an official comment.

S Velmurugan, senior principal scientist (transport engineering and safety division), CSIRCentral Road Research Institute (CRRI), said it is the responsibility of the enforcement agencies to ensure that the road users are guided to use the bypass in the initial days to avoid traffic chaos.

“The lack of proper enforcement will not only lead to jams but is also likely to cause road crashes. Along with regular signage, the NHAI should also have variable messaging signage, which would flash diversions in Hindi as well, because most truckers would be able to read that better,” he said. Velmurugan also said that in such projects a pre-safety audit should have been conducted to assess the specific safety features that need to be in place. longer duration bond to remain under pressure,” said R. Sivakumar, head-fixed income, Axis Asset Management Co. Ltd. death during child birth, especially among rural women, and you need immediate medical care in such cases. Accessibility to healthcare is crucial in saving lives.”