Farmers’ protests: Traffic jams cripple life in Zirakpur, Dera Bassi
The road was closed following the farmers’ call for agitation and movement towards New Delhi from Punjab, passing through Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru
Massive traffic jams were witnessed in Zirakpur and Dera Bassi on the second day of farmers’ agitation on Friday.
The commuters were stuck for hours at the Zirakpur highway, and those heading towards Dera Bassi focal point were a harried lot as the police also kept the entry to the flyover closed to vehicular traffic.
The entire traffic approaching the Patiala crossing was diverted on the road beneath the flyover causing a bottleneck, leading to miles-long queues of stuck vehicles. This blockade also resulted in a jam on the Panchkula side.
The road was closed following the farmers’ call for agitation and movement towards New Delhi from Punjab, passing through Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru.
In anticipation of another surge of farmers leading to deterioration of the law and order situation on Zirakpur to Lalru highway, the police barricaded the highway keeping alternate routes
The entry borders at Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru were sealed where serpentine queues of vehicles could be seen for miles till late at night. Mohali police sealed the border with Zirakpur at 9.30am on Thursday, which was not opened for vehicular traffic till Friday; traffic movement on the Zirakpur flyover was also seized and no vehicle was allowed to go past the flyover or towards Ambala.
The incoming traffic from Ambala was diverted at Dera Bassi towards Panchkula to reach Chandigarh. Similarly, the outgoing traffic from the Airport Road at the Patiala crossing was diverted towards Zirakpur where it was further diverted towards Panchkula-Nada Sahib-Barwala to flow on the Yamunanagar expressway to reach Ambala and Delhi.