Traffic mess: NHAI to approach cops

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, December 6

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would take up the issue of frequent traffic jams between Delhi and Panipat on the National Highway-1 with officials of the Panipat, Sonepat and Delhi Police soon.

The 70 km stretch between Mukarba Chowk in Delhi and Panipat was being widened to 12 lanes at a cost of nearly Rs2,000 crore.

Motorists face regular traffic jams due to slow pace of widening of the road.

Ashish Jain, Project Director, NHAI, said trucks parked on the roadside were the main cause of the traffic jams. “The drivers park their trucks before entering Delhi and long queues of the vehicles leave little space for other vehicles,” he said.

The widening work had already narrowed the highway and in addition to this, the parked trucks doubled the problem, he said. Besides, the marriage season was also causing traffic problems, as several banquet halls were situated on NH-1 and people park their vehicles on the road, he added.

The NHAI would take up these issues with the traffic wing of the Delhi Police and the SPs of Sonepat and Panipat in a day or two, he said. The NHAI would was also going to remove the encroachments from the NH to ease the traffic, he added.

“Notices have already been served on 51 encroachers in Samalkha. These encroachments are being verified with the Revenue Department to avoid legal tangle,” Jain added.