GURGAON: After a storm of criticism from citizens, Gurgaon police rescinded its announcement to restrict traffic on NH-8 for five hours – 9-11am and 2-5pm – on Thursday for President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the city. The unprecedented security move, which was announced through a tweet on Tuesday, drew a backlash on Wednesday as scores of social media users hit out at “VIP culture”, many tagging the Rashtrapati Bhawan and requesting the use of a chopper for the presidential visit.TimesviewThe poorly thought-out traffic advisory would have caused widespread chaos. Thankfully, the right decision was taken in the end. One hopes the Gurgaon police would be more prudent and circumspect in issuing traffic advisories in future.Restricting traffic on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, one of the busiest traffic corridors in the country, on a weekday morning would have major consequences for not just Gurgaon, which is notoriously vulnerable to jams, but also south Delhi, besides affecting access to IGI airport. Anticipating a major traffic fallout, some schools tweaked timings or announced online classes for Thursday while office managements issued their own travel advisories to employees.The tweet, which police commissioner Kala Ramachandran described as “unauthorised”, was eventually deleted from the police handle. “It has come to my notice that some advisory was issued without authorisation from senior officers. It is once again clarified that traffic will not be disrupted on Thursday. It’s just a VIP visit and traffic will not be disrupted at all, except for the usual 4-5 minutes stoppage at intersections during the passage of the motorcade,” she said.The police announcement and its fallout also ruffled feathers inside the President Estate. Though a press communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced the President’s visit to the Om Shanti Retreat Centre to “inaugurate the National Convention on ‘Women as foundation of value-based society’ and to launch an all-India awareness campaign ‘Empowering the Family’,” there was no official comment from the President House on the traffic advisory.But sources told TOI the President House was both “surprised and dismayed”, especially since there has been no change in security protocols that would necessitate highway restrictions for five hours, nor any involvement of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in decisions on security preparations.Remonstrations on social media also led to the Gurgaon administration issuing a clarification later in the day that there would be no restrictions during the President’s visit. “There will be no disruption of traffic on Thursday and the administration will ensure smooth flow of traffic for the commuters,” said a spokesperson.But by the time the announcement was withdrawn, schools and offices, and people with flights to catch had already started drawing up plans to work around the restrictions. “To avoid confusion, we decided to tweak the school timings on Thursday. While classes will commence at the usual 8am, departure timings were extended by an hour as per the traffic advisory issued,” said Sudha Sahay, principal of Shri Ram School, Aravali campus.At Delhi Public School, sector 45, classes were moved online for Thursday. “As such, two years of the pandemic have streamlined our online education. So that doesn’t seem to be an issue for us. Necessary directions have been issued to the parents,” said principal Aditi Mishra.A NASSCOM spokesperson said IT companies had alerted employees about the traffic advisory. “All IT companies have informed their employees about the President’s visit and subsequent traffic restrictions put in place. Employees have been asked to plan accordingly,” the spokesperson said.Many wondered why the Gurgaon administration had not issued a work from home advisory for Thursday. Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav told TOI, “We did not issue a work from home advisory as there will not be any major disruption. We will ensure there is bare minimum disruption due to the VIP visit. There will be certain diversions if the need arises.”President Murmu’s visit is scheduled between 10.30am and 2.30pm.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/police-backtrack-on-delhi-gurgaon-expressway-curbs-for-president-droupadi-murmu-visit/articleshow/97750712.cms