Near Shaheen Bagh, many roads not taken
Protesters remove barricades next to Kalindi Kunj Park, main road remains blocked for traffic
NEWDELHI: Commuters’ woes are far from over even as protesters at Shaheen Bagh on Saturday evening removed barricades from a section of Road Number 13A after 67 days as a “goodwill gesture”. This was done to ease traffic movement around the area and to reduce public inconvenience. On Saturday evening, a group of protesters removed barricades that were put up near the Atlantic Water World Park and opposite the Kalindi Kunj Metro station, allowing traffic movement from Jamia Millia Islamia, Batla House, and Abul Fazal Enclave to go towards Noida and Faridabad.
This road (Road 9) will also allow traffic from Ashram to take this alternative route to reach Noida and Faridabad via Jamia Nagar Kalindi Kunj. Traffic police officers said that this could create more chaos because one carriageway of the main road outside Jamia Millia Islamia is blocked by a similar group of protesters. This coupled with the main Delhi-noida connecting road — Road 13 A— is still occupied by protesters and is closed for traffic movement. This means that commuters from Sarita Vihar, other parts of south Delhi, Faridabad and areas around Sukhdev Vihar will continue to face the barricades. The route from Noida to Delhi also continues to be blocked by the Uttar Pradesh police.
Despite several rounds of talks with the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh have refused to end their demonstration that has been going on since December 16. They have, however, agreed to vacate one carriageway to allow traffic movement from Noida and Kalindi Kunj to Sarita Vihar, provided the SC guarantees police protection to the protesters.
Regular commuters said that unless this is done traffic jams will continue to grip the area, and spill over to Ashram intersection, DND flyway and the Barapullah elevated corridor.
Deputy commissioner of police (southeast), RP Meena, said that the opening of this route will not be of much help to ease traffic snarls. “The road that has been opened by the protesters, Road Number-9, is a narrow lane. It is not broad enough to take the load of an arterial road. The only people who will benefit from the opening of the road are the residents of Shaheen Bagh, Batla House and areas around Jamia Nagar,” Meena said.
Meena said that the barricades will not be reinstalled on the stretch. “The barricades were placed for the security of the protesters. If they feel that these need to be removed, we will go by their decision,” Meena said.
Apart from the narrow lane, commuters taking the inside road via Jamia Nagar to go to Noida will face another protest near Jamia, for which a carriageway has been closed leaving little space for bigger vehicles to cross. The road sees heavy traffic at any time of the day.
Sunil Kumar Mishra, traffic and road safety researcher at Iitdelhi, said that the opening of this road might benefit some commuters but traffic jams are likely to return on Monday. “Unless the route from Noida and at least a portion of the protest site is opened for commuters, the jams will continue. The problem is the traffic volume on this stretch,” Mishra said.
Barricades removed on Saturday were jointly managed by the Delhi police and the protesters. Till Saturday afternoon, only school buses and emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders were being allowed through the gate.
Meanwhile, the UP Police continued to restrict traffic movement from Noida towards Delhi.
Rajesh S, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Noida said that the traffic restrictions remain in place near Mahamaya Flyover in Noida side. “There is no change in the traffic restrictions from this side. Delhi Police had placed traffic restrictions at Kalindi Kunj for vehicles entering from Noida to Delhi and vice versa. Since there were restrictions at the entry-gate due to protest, we had placed a diversion near Mahamaya Flyway to ensure the commuters do not face problems ahead. The barricades are still in place,” he said.
The DCP said, “We have not placed any restrictions for vehicles coming from Delhi to Noida.”
Delhi Police officers said if they do not restrict vehicles coming from Noida side to Delhi through Road 13A, it may be a safety hazard for protesters.
“To stop speeding vehicles from running over anyone at the protest site, it is imperative that we have at least two layers of barricades to stop vehicles from going to that road,” a police officer said.
Also, since the roads remain closed, bikers have been managing to navigate through the Okhla Sanctuary’s internal road near Okhla Bird Sanctuary to Kalindi Kunj. The sanctuary fencing has been damaged at two locations — Thokar Number 6 and Thokar 8 — where the people barge with their motorcycles and exit at the Kalindi Kunj. Earlier, fourwheelers also navigated through the sanctuary’s internal road but now dividers restrict their movement.