After ban, scores of trucks stuck at Capital's borders

Noida: With Delhi banning the entry of heavy and medium goods vehicles in a rush to curb air pollution in the Capital, traffic diversions led to massive traffic snarls at Delhi-Noid border points with vehicles queueing up for nearly three to four kilometers at Kalindi Kunj during peak hours on Thursday.

The ban comes after the directions of the Supreme Court with the Commission for Air Quality Monitoring (CAQM) taking up a meeting of the states adjoining Delhi and NCR.

In this meeting, it was decided to impose a number of restrictions, after which the Delhi government had issued an order banning the entry of trucks carrying non-essential goods in the

capital till November 21, following which the Delhi Police issued its advisory in this regard. However, food items like vegetables, fruits, cereals, milk, eggs, ice and petroleum tankers have been exempted from this restriction.

Following the restrictions imposed, the Noida police suggested diversions for heavy and medium goods vehicles from Kalindi Kunj, Ashok Nagar, DND and Chilla borders via Peripheral Expressway.

However, hundreds of trucks and medium vehicles were denied entry and were left stranded at Delhi-Noida borders after which the office goers and other commuters had to face a harrowing time while travelling towards Delhi from Noida and Ghaziabad.

According to the advisory issued, all such vehicles going from Noida to Delhi via different border areas must follow the latest advisory and travel through the Peripheral Expressway. "Separate diversions have been requested for vehicles moving from Noida to elsewhere via Delhi. The traffic star teams have been deployed at border areas and other major intersections," said a senior police officer from Noida traffic police.

Meanwhile, a Greater Noida-based transport company owner said that the ban may only affect those who are carrying goods inside Delhi while others can take alternate routes and will not enter Delhi to travel Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh or any other state.

"Truck drivers can travel via Eastern Peripheral Expressway which is convenient as well as takes less time. While those who have to carry goods to or from Delhi are badly hit. We have a few trucks that are loaded with goods but the entry inside Delhi is denied so we have asked vendors to wait till the ban is

lifted. However, supply of essentials is uninterrupted during the ban," said Devendra Sharma, owner of Vaishno cargo limited in Greater Noida.