Ggm suspends border checking during rush hour to ease traffic
No checking from 6am to 9am and 5pm to 8pm everyday, passes still mandatory to cross over
GURUGRAM: The Gurugram Police on Friday said the checking of movement passes at Sirhaul border— that connects Gurugram with Delhi — will be suspended from 6am to 9am and 5pm to 8pm everyday to prevent traffic congestions the stretch has seen ever since private offices were allowed to completely resume operations last week.
Police said stopping and checking every vehicle was resulting in traffic congestion up to Dhaula Kuan in Delhi, nearly 12 kilometres away. Hence, they will remove the barricades during these hours to ensure smooth vehicular movement.
The district administration, however, reiterated that having movement passes issued through the Saral portal was still mandatory for crossing the border. Saral is a Haryana government web portal, where residents can apply and register to avail of services.
Before the lockdown on an average around 2.5 to 3 lakh cars used to run on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway now. During the lockdown period it has come down to 15,000-20,000, said an official of Millennium City Expressways Private Limited — the concessionaire of the DelhiGurgaon expressway.
Gurugram police commissioner Muhammad Akil said vehicular movement has increased and employees have started travelling to their offices in industrial, corporate, and private sectors.
“There is no fresh order but we have relaxed the checking due to volume of traffic entering the city during the morning and exiting in the evening. Vehicles were piling up as the checking takes at least 40 seconds per vehicle,” he said.
Akil said the police still can randomly stop and check any vehicles during the peak hours and the checking will be conducted as usual during the rest of the day — 9am and 5pm.
The deployment has also been reduced to 10 police personnel from 25 in one shift after relaxation was given to the daily commuters, said police.
Meanwhile, commuters faced long hours of congestion on Friday with many vehicles being denied entry after being thoroughly checked by the police on Friday. A number of people who were trying to cross the border on foot, too, were stopped for lack of valid permissions.
The district administration, in an order, has only permitted the movement of those involved in essential services and those who have administration-issued passes to cross over. Amit Khatri, deputy commissioner, said that they are maintaining the status quo on travel restrictions now between Gurugram and Delhi.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA), last week, removed restrictions on interstate travel with the state’s consent. The Gurugram district administration, however, chose to continue with the travel restrictions.
A senior Delhi traffic police official said, “Since the Delhi government relaxed movement norms and allowed offices to function with full workforce, we have not been issuing any passes for intra city movement. However, the border inspections by Haryana and UP governments have been causing long jams on the Delhi side. This decision of the Gurugram police will ease peak hour rush in Delhi to a great extent.”
Border areas like Sirhaul and Dundahera witnessed heavy traffic congestion during office hours starting Monday and the traffic volume is likely to increase in coming days, said police.
BEFORE THE LOCKDOWN ON AN AVERAGE AROUND 2.5 TO 3 LAKH CARS USED TO RUN ON THE DELHI-GURGAON EXPRESSWAY NOW