‘We’re sitting on road, family worried’: On BS-VI checks Day 2, Delhi commuters stranded, look for alternatives

Newlywed Nahida (23) boarded a Delhi-bound AC sleeper bus from her hometown, Benipur in Bihar, around 11:30 am on Sunday.

She was travelling to her in-laws’ house in Delhi’s Udyog Vihar. The bus had reached a stretch near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border — only a few kilometres away from her marital home — when it was stopped, and the passengers stranded. She said she booked the bus tickets for herself, her sister and aunt for Rs 3,500.

The non-BS-VI compliant vehicle was challaned at Chilla Border. The Delhi government has imposed a ban on the entry of vehicles below the BS-VI emission standard as pollution has started tightening its grip.

Monday marked Day 2 of the ban, with officers stationed along Delhi’s border with states like UP and Haryana. Only BS-VI-compliant, CNG and electric vehicles were allowed to enter the Capital.

Unaware, many commuters, like Nahida, were left stranded. They were caught off-guard while police personnel grappled with “unclear instructions”.

Nahida with her aunt. (Express photo)

The bus Nahida took was ferrying around 40 passengers. It pulled over under the shade of a tree, forcing some of them to toggle multiple online taxi service apps on their phones, while others hunched over clutching their bags in a row.

“My family was very excited to see me, but we’re here sitting on the road. They’re worried now. They (the bus operator) are not even giving us money to go back,” said Nahida.

She was not alone.

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Varun (43), who drives an auto rickshaw in Sonipat, was travelling with his wife, children and a relative.

“We boarded near Muzaffarpur and paid Rs 6,000 for five people to be dropped near GT Karnal,” he said as the relative waved at an autorickshaw, asking it to stop.

“I don’t have much money left. A cab will charge Rs 1,600. We have been here since the last two hours,” he fumed as an app on his son’s phone showed their cab was “31 minutes away”.

Umesh Singh, the bus driver, was equally confused. “There was a chatter that few vehicles would not be allowed (to enter Delhi), but nothing was confirmed. Some said that the rules will be fixed by November 5,” he said with the challan in his hand.

They would have to pay Rs 66,000, he claimed.

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A few hours earlier, another vehicle bearing an UP number plate, was turned back from Chilla Border, leaving its occupants — including a couple in their late 50s — visibly distressed.

A police officer, meanwhile, was heard telling occupants of a non-BS-VI car travelling from Noida to Delhi: “Sir, you will not be allowed to proceed.”

The owner, Bhupendra, who was driving the vehicle, frowned. “I don’t know anything about these rules. We live in Paschim Vihar and came to meet someone in Noida.”

His wife said, “I can show you our Aadhaar cards… How can you stop us? How will we go home now?”

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“I will turn 60 in November. This is so troubling for people of our age,” Bhupendra added.

The police officer suggested alternative routes, telling the couple, “We are following the Supreme Court order. You should too.”

He then stopped the traffic, moved barricades aside as the couple made a U-turn and drove towards Noida again.

A Delhi Police officer said that a total of 8,263 vehicles were checked in the Capital and along its borders till 8 pm.

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A total of 37 were challaned, 1,228 were sent back and two impounded and sent to scrap yards.

While space constraints led to traffic disruptions in Ghazipur, at checkpoints in Kalindi Kunj and Chilla Border, the traffic flow was heavy, as usual.

At the DND Flyover, 28 vehicles were checked until 10:20 am, and at least three sent back. At the Delhi-Gurugram Aya Nagar border, ASI Deepak Kumar said all 10 vehicles stopped by his team were
BS-VI-compliant.

“There’s nothing to worry about. People have become aware of the rules now,” he told his seniors over the phone.