A view of the Delhi-Noida road (PTI)
A crucial road connecting Kalindi Kunj and Noida, via Okhla, was opened for traffic on Saturday. The road was one of the main crossings that had been closed down by authorities due to the sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh.
The police barricades were removed after a group of citizenship law protestors at Shaheen Bagh, who had been at the site since Dec 15, agreed to authorities' demands to let traffic pass through the road. The opening of the barricades could be a significant breakthrough in the ongoing negotiations between the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors and the protestors.
As things stand now, a single barricade is in place at the inter-state route, which the police say is to check vehicles passing through the road.
While a group of protestors agreed to open the Kalindi Kunj route towards Noida, the closing of which had been contributing to traffic woes in the National Capital, another group has been opposing the move.
Talking about the apparent confusion among protestors, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Delhi's south-east district) said that there was no clarity if all the protestors have reached a "consensus" on the decision.
The Supreme Court has expressed concern on the blockade of a public road at Shaheen Bagh and suggested that the anti-CAA protesters shift to another site, several of those participating in the stir contested the claim that the sit-in was causing inconvenience to a large number of commuters.
The Supreme Court asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to act as interlocutor and persuade protesters to move to an alternative site where no public place is blocked.
It said that Sanjay Hegde can take the assistance of advocate Sadhana Ramachandran and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah for talking to the protesters.
The interlocutors had their first discussion over the Shaheen Bagh blockade on Tuesday. However, they said that they are awaiting the copy of the SC order copy before meeting the Shaheen Bagh protesters.
Several protesters on Tuesday said that the Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj road in southeast Delhi, which is blocked for over two months, is used by only a few commuters, that too mostly from the vicinity of Jamia Nagar and Okhla who had agreed to the use of the site for the demonstration.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had on Friday re-opened the same route from their side, but only for a few minutes. The UP Police later clarified that the road was just opened for the passage of a bus.
(with PTI inputs)
(The article was last updated at 6:21 PM)
