A unique challenge for enforcement teams along Delhi-Gurugram border — weekend market

Enforcement of Delhi’s non-BS-VI vehicle ban faced major disruptions at the Kapashera border on Sunday due to a crowded weekly market.

As the ban on the entry of non-BS-VI compliant vehicles in the Capital kicked off on Sunday, the enforcement teams saw a unique challenge at the Delhi-Gurugram border.

Hundreds of vendors occupied a key stretch near Kapashera, barricades became invisible, traffic police officers could not be seen, and vehicles passed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) toll booth unchecked by evening — all because of the weekend market.

The main entry points from Gurugram to Delhi —  the Rajokri border, the Dwarka Expressway toll, the Bijwasan border, and the Kapashera border — all had traffic police officers, Delhi Transport officials, and even Gurugram Police officers when the checking of vehicles started on Sunday morning.

By 2 pm, the Bijwasan area had already seen about 50 vehicles returning to Haryana from the border.

At the Dwarka Expressway toll, buses and trucks were lined up on the side for checking, with both Gurugram Police and the Delhi Transport Department officials checking their pollution under check (PUC) certificates and other documents.

At Kapashera, two layers of barricades were placed between the police booth and the MCD toll plaza, on a single lane road, with police officers randomly stopping vehicles for inspection.

“They were checking them way ahead of the toll plaza. So most of them returned before coming to the toll booth,” said an MCD official at the Kapashera toll booth.

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However, by 5 pm, the weekly Sunday market had been set up at the border. Vendors selling vegetables and clothes lined up the stretch till the toll plaza.

Hundreds of shoppers gathered and the single-lane road filled up with pedestrians.

There were hardly any police personnel, with trucks, tempos, old vehicles, bikes, all passing the barricades and customers on the single-lane road.

Most of the lanes of the toll plaza were also closed. Only two were open, from where all vehicles from Gurugram were entering into the Capital, unchecked.

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“We can’t check these many vehicles. There were some police officers around an hour ago, but with the market, you can’t stop anyone on the road. There would be hours-long commotion,” said another MCD officer.

Meanwhile, a traffic police officer said,  “Around 20 vehicles were returned from here by 2 pm for being below BS-6. Few PUC challans were also issued.”