New Delhi: Traffic congestion was reported at multiple locations across the city on Wednesday as police conducted checks to enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) by setting up barricades at various strategic points, including major intersections and thoroughfares.
Vehicles often crawled at key locations, causing significant disruptions to the daily commute. Richa Arora, a resident of Noida, said it usually took her 40 minutes to travel from Noida Sector 75 to central Delhi. However, the slow vehicular movement in the Akshardham area in east Delhi due to barricades made her commute time an hour on Wednesday, she rued.
“The traffic congestion was particularly bad in the Akshardham area,” Arora said. “The slow movement of vehicles caused a ripple effect, leading to the delay in my commute time.”
According to police, as part of their comprehensive efforts to enforce GRAP and ensure a seamless traffic experience, 126 pickets have been strategically positioned throughout the city and its border areas. These checkpoints are serving as critical hubs for verifying vehicle details and enforcing compliance with GRAP regulations.
“To effectively man these pickets, a substantial force of over 1,000 traffic police personnel has been deployed, and they are working in tandem with local police officers,” joint commissioner of police (traffic) Dinesh Gupta said. Equipped with advanced machines, these personnel are meticulously verifying vehicle details and scrutinising documents to enforce the compliance with the GRAP norms, he added.
The personnel also coordinated with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and there was no snarl, he claimed.
Anil Sharma, a resident of Ghaziabad, however, said his regular journey of 30-35 minutes to Daryaganj was completed in an hour on Wednesday. He found himself stuck in a sea of brake lights due to multiple barricades set up along the route, starting from the T-point of Delhi-Meerut Expressway to Ring Road near Millennium Park.
“The usual smooth ride turned into a frustrating crawl,” Sharma lamented. “I had to navigate through multiple checkpoints, which not only added to my travel time but also tested my patience. The increased travel time was a direct result of the extensive barricading, which seemed to be necessary for GRAP checks, but certainly made my morning commute a lot more challenging,” he said.
