Delhi Converted Into A Fortress For G20 Summit

New Delhi- The New Delhi area, which houses the G20 Summit venue and hotels where delegates will be staying, will be put under a tight security ring from Friday morning and there will be a slew of traffic restrictions in place, officials said. The movement of vehicles will be regulated in the New Delhi district as the area will be considered as Controlled Zone-I from 5 am on Friday till 11.59 pm on Sunday due the G20 summit. However, movement of ambulances will be allowed and local residents of the area and tourists accommodated there will be permitted to move after presenting proper identification papers, police said. They further stated that all online delivery services, except medicines, will be barred in the New Delhi district during the G20 Summit. According to officials, police will be maintaining a hawk-eye vigil during the summit, with the assistance of over 50,000 personnel, K9 dog squads and mounted police. In an advisory released on August 25, the Delhi Traffic Police has listed out restrictions on the movement of goods vehicles, buses, auto-rickshaws and taxis and has urged people to make maximum use of metro services in view of regulated movement of traffic. Police have also urged people not to visit India Gate and Kartavya Path for activities such as walking, cycling and picnicking in view of the G20 Summit. Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) S S Yadav had said as India Gate and Kartavya Path have been “designated in the controlled zone”, the Delhi Police appeals to people not to visit the area for “walking, cycling or picnicking” during the G20 Summit. He said that essential services such as postal and medical services, sample collections by pathological labs will be allowed throughout Delhi. The police have also advised people to use the navigation app ‘Mapmyindia’ to reach their destinations. The entire area of New Delhi will be considered as “Controlled Zone-I” from 5 am on September 8 till 11.59 pm on September 10. The traffic police has designated the entire area inside Ring Road (Mahatma Gandhi Marg) as “Regulated Zone” from 5 am on September 8 to 11.59 pm on September 10. This means that only bonafide residents, authorised vehicles, emergency vehicles and vehicles of passengers travelling to the airport, Old Delhi and New Delhi Railway Stations will be allowed to ply on the road network beyond Ring Road towards New Delhi district. Vehicles dealing with housekeeping, catering, waste management, etc. for hotels, hospitals and other important installations in New Delhi district will also be allowed after verification. Nearly 16 roads and junctions will be treated as “Controlled Zone II” from 12 noon till 2 pm on Sunday. The Controlled Zone II roads and junctions include W-Point, A-Point, DDU Marg, Vikas Marg (till Noida Link Road-Pusta Road), Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Delhi Gate etc. Police requested commuters to avoid travel to places falling in “Regulated” and “Controlled Zones”, but listed out alternate routes to take in case travel is unavoidable. The Delhi Metro said that it will start services from 4 am from terminal stations on all lines of the network on September 8, 9 and 10 to facilitate movement of people, and police personnel and staff from other assisting agencies deployed to maintain security, law and order and traffic arrangements for the summit. The move came after Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora had requested the metro authorities in a letter. Besides, parking facilities at Supreme Court, Patel Chowk and RK Ashram Marg metro stations will be closed from 4 am on September 8 till noon of September 11, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said. According to the police, metro rail service shall remain available for commuters at all stations except Supreme Court Metro Station, where boarding/deboarding will not be permitted from 5 am on September 9 to 11 pm on September 10. Police said that all types of goods vehicles, commercial vehicles, interstate buses and local city buses such as Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) buses will not be allowed to ply on Mathura Road (beyond Ashram Chowk), Bhairon Road, Purana Quila Road and inside Pragati Maidan Tunnel from 12 midnight on September 8 to 11.59 pm on September 10. The movement of buses will be curtailed till ISBT Kashmere Gate, ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, Ashram Chowk, Moolchand Flyover, Vivekanand Marg (Regional Passport Office), AIIMS, Under RTR Flyover, Mayapuri Chowk, Punjabi Bagh Chowk and Azadpur Chowk. Interstate buses coming from Ghazipur Border will terminate at ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, while those coming from Apsara Border, Chilla Border, Badarpur Border, Tikei Border and Singhu border will terminate at ISBT Kashmere Gate, ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, Ashram Chowk, Peeragarhi Chowk and Mukarba Chowk respectively. The Delhi Police also held full dress rehearsals for the summit in which they were escorting carcades from different parts of the national capital towards the New Delhi district. They have advised people to follow real-time traffic updates on the ‘G-20 Virtual Help Desk’ for route suggestions for commuting from/to the airport, railway stations, or bus terminals.