Entry of heavy vehicles has been closed to Sheetla Mata Road as the temple is witnessing a huge footfall of devotees daily.
Gurgaon traffic police has issued a traffic advisory specifying curbs on movement of heavy and commercial vehicles for smooth traffic flow during the month-long Chaitra Mela (a festival) at Sheetla Mata Mandir, Old Gurgaon. Around 1 lakh devotees visit the temple daily.
Mundan ceremony for babies is performed at Chaitra Mela. It is done usually in the first year of the child's life and the child's head is tonsured as part of the ceremony. Chaitra is the first month according to the Hindu calender.
The police said that the entry of heavy vehicles to Sheetla Mata Road has been closed from Atul Kataria Chowk and Bhagat Singh Chowk. Commuters travelling to Palam Vihar and Dwarka from NH 8 are advised to take a route from Sector 21, Gurgaon, to reach their destination. Those travelling from Sohna Road to Palam Vihar and Dwarka are advised to go via Rajiv Chowk, New Colony More and intersection of sectors 4 and 5, where they can finally take a turn to Palam Vihar and Dwarka.
Balbir Singh, DCP (traffic), said, “We have done our best to ensure that traffic snarls don’t happen. We request commuters with private vehicles, travelling from Old Gurgaon to New Gurgaon, Delhi and Manesar, to avoid this stretch during the period. It doesn’t matter how hard we try to convince the devotees to use the foot-over bridge as they would use the roads to reach the temple. This leads to major traffic congestion.”
The police is working in two shifts to manage the traffic. One shift is from 8 am to 8 p m during the day and the other is from 8 p m to 8 am. The district police has deployed personnel on 24x7 duty. This has ensured that the traffic is not affected due to the event.
Dinesh Vashisht, president of RWA, Sector 5, said, “Most devotees come from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in private buses that are parked in Sector 5. This causes traffic problems for us residents. Some alternative parking arrangements should be made.”
Residents of Old Gurgaon, including Palam Vihar, and the new developing sectors near Dwarka and Delhi will be most affected due to the festival.
Naresh Kumar, ASI (traffic), said, "We are trying our best to make this 1 km stretch traffic-free. Heavy vehicles still try to take this road and we have to be vigilant the entire day."
A police constable diverts a heavy vehicle at Atul Kataria Chowk
