Bikers rode onto footpaths to escape long queues; motorists leaned on their horns. At the same time, commuters pleaded with traffic police to let them pass as Delhi’s enforcement of BS-VI entry restrictions turned the Ghazipur border into a bottleneck, with vehicles crawling through checks spread across a 500-metre stretch.
The congestion stretched across both the flyover and the road beneath it, where vehicles crawled in fits and starts as traffic police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and transport department officials stopped them for verification.
A spot check showed long queues of vehicles building up at multiple checking points, with little room to manoeuvre.
For those travelling from Ghaziabad and other parts of Uttar Pradesh to Delhi for work, the checks meant longer journeys, missed appointments, and uncertainty over entry into the national Capital. “I left home at 10 am because I had to reach office by 11 am. It is already 11.30 am, and I am still stuck here.
First, the vehicles were stopped, then their registration numbers were checked, and many people were asked to turn back. I cannot keep calling my office and explaining that I am late because of a vehicle check,” Ashok, a private-sector employee travelling from Vaishali to Preet Vihar, said.
The checking exercise extended from the Uttar Pradesh side to the Ghaziabad underpass connecting Vaishali to Delhi, with three separate points manned by the three agencies. Queues at individual checkpoints stretched between 100 and 150 metres, with congestion worsening during peak office hours, even as the checks continued through the day.
Traffic personnel said they initially rely on registration number series and stickers on vehicles to identify those that could violate the entry restrictions. “We have been conducting these checks for years and are familiar with the registration series and the corresponding years of registration. For instance, a ‘DL14’ series can help us identify vehicles registered in a particular period.
“We also look at stickers displayed on vehicles, including those indicating CNG compliance and the registration year. These are initial indicators. The registration certificate checks the vehicle details before a final decision is taken,” a traffic officer said.
At one checkpoint, traffic personnel said around 100 vehicles were asked to take a U-turn daily, while approximately 80 challans were issued for no-entry violations.