NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking to open Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch which has been closed due to ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) since December 15.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar listed the PIL for hearing on Tuesday. The petition, filed by advocate and social activist Amit Sahni, sought a direction to the Delhi Police Commissioner to withdraw the closure of the stretch along with the Okhla underpass.
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The Kalindi Kunj stretch is quite crucial as it connects Delhi, Faridabad and Noida and commuters who use these roads are forced to take alternative routes Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) Expressway and Ashram, which is causing hours of traffic jams and wastage of time and fuel, the plea said.
It claimed that the authorities have failed to take appropriate action to give relief to the residents of the locality and lakhs of commuters of Delhi, UP and Haryana. Due to the heavy traffic on alternative routes, it takes 15-20 minutes for people to cross just one traffic signal at Ashram, it said.
It said that on an average, Ashram Chowk is used by around 30,000 vehicles every day. With the Kalindi Kunj road closure, an additional 1 lakh vehicles are flowing through the intersection.