More than a 30-km-long stretch of the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH-48) passing through Rewari has been left out of bounds for traffic with the Gurugram police setting up barricades at Kapdiwas Chowk here on Monday, a day after the clash between the farmers and the police.
Hundreds of big commercial vehicles, including container trucks, are stuck between Kapdiwas and Masani barrage in Rewari for almost 24 hours, though private and light commercial vehicles headed towards Jaipur are being diverted by the Gurugram police towards Bhiwadi at Kapdiwas Chowk. The families staying in Dharuhera Sector 1 are also partially hit because of the blockades.
The traffic headed towards Gurugram is forced to travel through villages and take Pataudi Road to reach its destination.
Ramesh Kumar, a truck driver at Kapdiwas Chowk, said he had been stuck since Sunday evening and didn’t know how long it might take before the blockade was lifted. Vipin Ojha, another truck driver, said he was not aware of the fresh trouble on the highway and was on his way to Rewari for a repair work in the morning when he hit the blockade at the Kapdiwas Chowk. “At least the police should have warned the heavy commercial vehicles headed towards Jaipur. Many truck drivers were caught unawares,” said Mr. Ojha.
Though both carriageways of the Delhi-Jaipur Highway were left blocked at Shahjahanpur border over a week ago, the Rewari Police parked containers and put barricades near Masani barrage in Dharuhera on Sunday evening to prevent around 600 Rajasthan farmers from marching towards Delhi.
The supply of essential commodities such as vegetables and milk was also partially hit for thousands of families staying in group housing societies, a housing board colony and along Nandrampur Bass Road in Sector 1 Dharuhera, situated between Kapdiwas Chowk and Masani barrage. Vipul Gardens RWA president Kanwar Singh Yadav said the supply of vegetables and milk to the society shops was affected due to the blockade. “We also had difficulty in garbage disposal. The situation will worsen if the blockade continues,” said Mr. Yadav. He claimed that around 10,000 families in the area were likely to be impacted.
‘Forced to take leave’
Naresh Kumar, manager, Vatika Developers, said he had to take leave from work since he could not reach his Manesar office. “A large majority of the people staying in this society work at Manesar and Bawal and most of them were forced to take leave. It is even worse then the lockdown. In fact, there is no space even for the emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, to ply,” said Mr. Kumar, a resident of Vipul Gardens.
Abhishek Jorwal, Superintendent of Police, Rewari, said the local administration could do little in the present situation, except diverting the traffic.
