Many Gurugram motorists choose Faridabad border to enter Delhi even as snarls reported on roads to Gurugram, Ghaziabad

With the Delhi-Gurugram border re-sealed on Friday after a week of allowing vehicles to pass through, several residents of Gurugram chose the Delhi-Faridabad border as their entry point into the national Capital even as the roads leading to Gurugram and Ghaziabad witnessed slow traffic in the morning hours.

While the restrictions at the Gurugram borders had been lifted on May 18 and were back in place Friday, there was no order to de-seal the Delhi-Faridabad border. However, drivers of vehicles had to have valid passes if they wished to cross both borders.

KK Rao, Faridabad’s police commissioner, said that the situation at the Faridabad border remained the same. “We have not de-sealed the border. Only essential service providers such as paramedical and sanitation workers are allowed to cross if they are equipped with passes,” Rao said.

However, two factors—a relatively limited checking process at the Faridabad border and unrestricted access to the Delhi-Faridabad skyway—allowed motorists easier access to Delhi compared to other checkpoints in Gurugram.

On Friday, several motorists from Gurugram travelled up to 40 kilometres extra (one-way) just to be able to gain unrestricted entry into Delhi.

“When I couldn’t make it to Delhi from the Gurugram border, I got to know from a friend that the situation was different at the Faridabad border, as there was lesser checking and the using the skyway did not require a pass. I drove all the way to Faridabad to enter Delhi as I cannot afford to miss work anymore,” Sanjeev Rana, who works for a private firm in Rajouri Garden, said.

Rana had to drive an extra 40 kilometres to make it to Delhi, but said it was an uninterrupted journey. “I simply took the Delhi-Faridabad skyway,” Rana said.

In the morning hours, the police went about checking people near NHPC Chowk, about 500 metres before the Delhi-Faridabad toll plaza. But after that, there was practically no checking for those entering Delhi.

“Our priority is to stop people from entering Faridabad, not those leaving Faridabad,” a police officer deployed at a checkpost on the carriageway leading into Faridabad said.

Gurugram motorists said that they were aware of there being stricter checking when they return after the day’s work. “I hope the Delhi-Faridabad skyway will remain unchecked in the evening, though,” BD Singh, who runs a mobile phone shop in Deoli, said.

Singh, like some others, wasn’t able to obtain an online pass from the Faridabad administration. “I was able to reopen my shop for a week. Now, I can’t suddenly close it again when my employees are willing to come to work,” Singh said

On the return journey, if Singh doesn’t choose the skyway, he’ll be asked to show his pass at the Delhi-Badarpur border checkpoint.

“We are only letting in those with valid passes issued by the Faridabad administration,” the police officer at the checkpoint said.

Yet, these policemen let several vehicles through unchecked in the afternoon. “The checking will get stricter in the evening when people begin returning from their offices,” the policeman said.

The police commissioner, however, said that he was unaware of any such misuse of border routes by Gurugram motorists and that he had received no such complaints.

The sealing of the borders between Gurugram and Ghaziabad, meanwhile, led to heavy traffic on the roads leading to the two cities.

The traffic police said that vehicles crawled on NH-8 and the Singhu border leading to Gurugram and Sonepat respectively and on the road towards the Ghaziabad border near Ghazipur.

Taj Hassan, the special commissioner of traffic police, said that there wasn’t much the Delhi Police could do about the situation since motorists being stopped at these borders were being turned away, leading to snarls.

“There have been no jams on the roads entering Delhi. As for the ones leading to these two cities, we are doing all we can by alerting motorists on social media to avoid venturing towards those borders unless they have the necessary permissions,” Hassan said.