GB Nagar: Anand, an employee in a Delhi-based company, started from his home in Greater Noida at eight in the morning for Delhi. Caught in traffic jams on the way, it took him four hours to cover a distance of 25 kilometre to reach his destination.
Most office goers from Noida and Greater Noida have similar experience ever since the protests against Citizenship Amenment Act (CAA) broke out in the National Capital. While the Kalindi Kunj area has been blocked for vehicular traffic in view of a sit-in for over 54 hours now, traffic situation in Delhi-NCR seems critical.
Harsh, who works at ITO, takes a blueline to travel to work but owing to the complete closure of seven metro stations – Patel Chowk, Lok Kalyan Marg, Udyog Bhawan, ITO, Pragati Maidan, Khan Market, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, Vishwavidyalaya, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jasola Vihar, Shaheen Bagh and Munirka, he decided to go to Lakshmi Nagar and take an auto.
Speaking to CitySpidey, he said "The autowallas, who have started overcharging to make the most of the commuters' predicament, agree to ferry you only as a favour as all routes to the ITO remained jammed during peak hours.”
Interestingly, many people who had opted to travel to Delhi Noida by metro because of the closure of Kalindi Kunj and to avoid traffic jams on packed DND and Akshardham had to go back home after being stranded in the traffic for hours in the last two days.
CitySpidey spoke to several such people. One of them was Shweta Sharma, a nutritionist, who has been taking the Kalindi Kunj route for work for last five years. On December 16, while on her usual route for work, she was stuck in the jam for more than two hours before deciding to go back home after receiving several panic calls from family members sacred of the situation in the south district.
People have also claimed that parkings at metro stations like Botanical Garden, Sector 18 and Kalindi Kunj have been flooded with cars and people have been parking cars and bikes on roads, adding to traffic woes in Noida.
The sections at Bharola, Ghitorni and others have been witnessing massive traffic even during the non-peak hours.
While many still struggled to reach to work, a few lucky ones from Delhi-NCR were asked by their employers to stay home and work online. Sapna, a copyeditor at a publishing house, says "We got a message from our boss to work from home, I am working from home for the last three days.”
