Online delivery services except for medicines to be barred in New Delhi dist

New Delhi: All online delivery services, except medicines, will be barred in the New Delhi district during the G20 Summit, the Delhi Police said on Monday.

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SS Yadav said during a press conference that there are no changes in the traffic advisory issued by the police on August 25.

“Essential services such as postal and medical services, sample collections by path labs will be allowed throughout Delhi. In the New Delhi area, commercial activities will not be allowed. Online delivery services will not be allowed but medicine delivery will be allowed,” he said.

Valid permissions granted for essential services will be “honoured”, he added.

The senior officer also shared that barring at the Supreme Court station, metro services will not be affected.

“There might be closure of gates for 10-15 minutes at stations due to VIP movement and security restrictions. But apart from at Pragati Maidan (Supreme Court), metro services will not be affected at other stations,” he added.

Yadav said people with hotel bookings in the New Delhi district and travelling from the airport or railway station will be allowed entry, subject to the production of boarding passes and booking documents.

“There might be 10-15-minute delays due to security restrictions at that point but they will be allowed entry,” he added. The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held from September 9-10 at the newly built international convention and exhibition centre — Bharat Mandapam — at Pragati Maidan.

As part of the G20 security arrangements, the Delhi Police asked the DMRC to close the gates of 39 metro stations that open towards VVIPs’ places of stay and routes, and the summit’s venue but later withdrew it.

In a communication to the chief security officer of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday, police said they are withdrawing their request on “administrative grounds”.

In its first letter sent to the DMRC on Saturday, the Delhi Police said that the gates of more than 20 metro stations, including three of Khan Market, two of Moti Bagh and five of ITO, are “required” to be closed to strengthen the security matrix from September 8 to September 10.

“As you are aware that the G20 Summit-2023 is around the corner and we are making all possible efforts to enhance the security matrix. Hence, in order to maintain foolproof security arrangements during the upcoming summit, it is required to ensure that the gate numbers of metro stations that open towards the VVIPs route/venue of summit/place of stay may be closed from September 8 to 10,” the letter stated.

It also stated that if any gate-closing request is received from any deputy commissioners of police or the police headquarters or if circumstances warrant, the DMRC shall be informed immediately at a short notice.

This has the approval of the “special commissioner of police/vigilance and the public transport safety division, Delhi”, the letter stated.

However, in a letter to the DMRC’s chief security commissioner on Monday, the Delhi Police said the request letter for the closure of gates of 39 metro stations which was made vide this office on Saturday is hereby withdrawn on “administrative grounds”.