A PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking reopening of Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch which has been closed since Dec 15, 2019 due to anti-CAA protests.

The writ petition has been filed by Advocate Amit Sahni under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution seeks directions “to withdraw the closure of KalindiKunj-Shaheen Bagh Stretch i.e. Road No. 13 A (between Mathura Road and Kalindi Kunj) as well as Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15, 2019 for ongoing protests against Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizen (NRC) as a temporary measure but the road closure was extended from time to time till date, whereby causing huge inconvenience/hardship to the lacs of commuters everyday, who are compelled to take different route for the last one month”.

“The Kalindi Kunj stretch, which is quite crucial as the same connects Delhi, Faridabad (Haryana) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh) has been shut down since 15-12-2019 due to protests against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the Parliament of India. Several Lacs commuters using the aforesaid road are forced to use alternative routes Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) Expressway and Ashram, which not only results in brunt of hours of traffic jams but wastage of fuel and precious time also,” the plea said.

The plea cited various articles published in the news outlets.

“That news reports reveals that as per traffic police estimates, Ashram Chowk is used by around 300,00 vehicles on average every day. With the Kalindi Kunj road closure, an additional 1,00,000 are flowing through the intersection. Apart from the temporary road closures, traffic has also been affected because a part of Mathura Road is dug up to for the construction of an underpass, which is expected to ease the congestion at Ashram Chowk, Mathura road and the adjoining arteries by connecting Nizamuddin to New Friends Colony,” the plea mentioned.

—India Legal Bureau