Maya’s 30 minutes to cost Noida a day?

Normal life to take a blow as the UP chief minister will be here to inaugurate her dream project on Friday

Maya's 30 minutes to cost Noida a day?

Normal life to take a blow as the UP chief minister will be here to inaugurate her dream project on Friday

Noida authority and police are leaving no stone unturned to be in the good books of state's chief minister Mayawati who will be in town for half an hour to unveil her dream project on Friday evening.

And locals are likely to bear the brunt. To ensure foolproof security, police also conducted mock drill on Thursday evening.

Security in place at Ambedkar Park in Noida ahead of Mayawati's visit

The drill is specimen enough of the problem that the common man could face in the next 24 hours.

The process which started at 5 pm choked the roads connecting Noida sector 15A with Mayur Vihar and Greater Noida. Traffic moved at snail's pace till 9 pm.

Nowhere to go
Office goers were stuck in jams all day. Till late evening the road joining Greater Noida and Mayur Vihar to Noida was choked. "This traffic jam is insane.

It took me 45 minutes to cover three kilometres. We understand security is important but blocking the main routes for a couple hours for two days and that too for a thirty-minute visit is not justified," said Vishwas Verma, a resident of Noida sector 19A.
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Learning lessons from Mayawati's last visit here, Noida police has not turned Ambedkar Park into a fortress but has swept away street vendors.

'Down shutters'
According to the vendors - a lifeline of the satellite township - cops have asked them to shut shops for two days. "I am not sure why police is asking us not to open our shops.

I have a paan shop at sector 11 which does not come in the chief minister's route. I need to open my shop to feed my family. Not only will it create problems for me, it will also inconvenience the general public," said Ram Dular, owner of a paan shop.

Even BPO employees are finding it hard to get street food - their sole means of survival - during their breaks at night. "All of a sudden all the street food joints are closed. How are these outlets in sector 62 a security threat for the chief minister?" asked Shivam Joshi who works for an MNC.

The road leading up to the park has also been given a complete makeover. Two fresh coats of paint along the street and the curb as well as new tree protectors make it seem as if the roads have been built anew; especially for the inauguration.

Streetlights are being replaced, in some cases with floodlights that will illuminate the park in the evening. Scores of BSP flags flutter in the area.

The chief executive officer of Noida Authority, Balwinder Kumar said, "We expect that traffic will be affected from 2 pm to 8 pm. But keeping this in mind, alternative routes will be suggested for the public.

Traffic entering Noida will be directed towards Udyog Nagar and vehicles coming from Greater Noida and Faridabad will be moved towards sector 37."
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The CM will start the inauguration ceremony along with her other projects. Security has been beefed up at Apeejay School where a temporary helipad has been constructed from where the CM will go directly to the venue.

"Everything is under control and the mock drill helped us gauge the situation that we could face on Friday," said Jyoti Narayan, SSP, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Health Hazard!
Busy with the security drill, cops failed to notice an ambulance which was coming from Bulandshahar carrying a critically ill patient who was being transferred to AIIMS.

The ambulance (number plate UP-53C-5760) was stuck in a jam for more than 45 minutes. The driver and a relative of the patient started requesting commuters to clear the road as the patient was in poor state.
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The victim had met with an accident at Bulandshahar but due to lack of medical facilities there doctors referred him to AIIMS. While stuck in the jam during the mock drill, the driver of the ambulance called up the district hospital as the condition of patient was deteriorating.

"The patient had spinal and head injuries and he needed immediate treatment. So, we referred him to AIIMS. But our ambulance driver called up at 6 pm, saying that the condition of the patient was worsening.

So we suggested some medicines. The car was stuck in a jam for 45 minutes," said NK Gupta from Bulandshahar district hospital.