This story is from March 17, 2015

Boulders on road, commuters in peril

Niti Khand resident Vivek Tyagi was in for a shock while driving on Hindon Canal Road in Indirapuram on the intervening night of Sunday, March 15 and March 16.
Boulders on road, commuters in peril
GHAZIABAD: Niti Khand resident Vivek Tyagi was in for a shock while driving on Hindon Canal Road in Indirapuram on the intervening night of Sunday, March 15 and March 16.
Hardly had he driven his SUV on the stretch, was he forced to brake so hard that the vehicle came to a screeching halt. "Suddenly, I noticed a mound of boulders in the middle of the road," said Tyagi.
"I froze in fear and wondered what would have happened to me and my family, had I not hit the brake on time," recalled Tyagi.
The strewn boulders occupied almost a fourth of the road's width. "There was no warning signal displayed to alert unsuspecting commuters," said an angry Tyagi.
Hundreds of commuters use the Hindon Canal Road every day at all hours - it has few logjams and is a shorter route to the city, thus saving a lot of travelling time.
But not anymore. Rajiv Ranjan Raj, a commuter who takes this route daily, said, "A week ago, we found the boulders dumped in the middle of the road, over a 250m stretch near the viaduct over the canal. It led to a long traffic jam that day. In the absence of any signage, the stretch has become dangerous," added Raj.
Apparently, the boulders were dumped on the road by Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, which is carrying out what it calls 'canal protection work'.
Junior engineer Devesh Sharma of the state irrigation department said, "It is a routine work for rebuilding the embankment to protect the canal, and will continue for a month." He had no answer as to why there is no signage on the road alerting unsuspecting commuters. He, however, said, "Since the stretch is no longer safe for commuters, it will remain out of bounds for traffic till the work is complete." Sharma promised the road will be blocked for traffic from Tuesday.
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