Delhi-Ghaziabad borders choked for 5 hours

Ghaziabad: Traffic barely moved at two Delhi-Ghaziabad borders near EDM Mall and Anand Vihar through Friday afternoon, drawing angry reactions on social media from stranded commuters.
UP Police officers in Ghaziabad said they were caught unawares by Delhi Police’s “sudden decision” to seal the borders and took time to divert traffic and ease the snarls somewhat.Delhi Police, however, denied sealing the borders. “Farmers-related law and order arrangements have been continuing since January 26. Nothing new was done on Friday,” said Priyanka Kashyap, DCP (east).
Source said the border curbs were effected in view of a sudden blockade by farmers of the Delhi-Gurgaon border on Thursday night. UP Gate, which is a few kilometres from the EDM and Anand Vihar borders, has been the protest site for farmers backed by the Rakesh Tikait-led Bharatiya Kisan Union for the past 10 months.
Police sources said the jams were caused by barricades that were put up and lasted five hours, beginning Friday noon. As commuters took to social media to vent out their anger at the lack of traffic management, senior UP Police officers rushed to the choke points. Around 200 cops from the traffic department and the local police stations were deployed on the roads to divert vehicles. But by the time the traffic cops could react, there were already long tailbacks.
Led by Gyanendra Singh, SP (city 2), and Ramanand Kushwaha, SP (traffic), the police diverted vehicles headed for Anand Vihar towards GT Road and Bhopura. Those on the way to Delhi via EDM Mall were diverted towards Seemapuri, Tulsi Niketan, Loni and Noida Sector 62.
Singh told TOI they had no prior information about Delhi Police’s decision. “We had to deploy traffic cops and teams from local police stations on the roads to manage the situation,” he added.
Shashank Tripathi, a resident of Gaur City, was headed to Anand Vihar railway station to drop his sister when he got stuck in the snarl. “We left home around 2pm, with two hours for the train to depart. Fortunately, we managed to reach the railway station with just 15 minutes in hand,” he said.
Kunal, a chartered accountant from Delhi, had come to meet his client in Ghaziabad. He was caught in the jam for two and a half hours. “There was another meeting in Delhi. But I had to cancel that,” he added.
The border jams began easing from around 5pm but it took some more time for traffic to normalise.