House arrest for locals

Movement of residents near Noida Expressway and Lutyen's zone to be curtailed for CWG cycling event

Movement of residents near Noida Expressway and Lutyen's zone to be curtailed for CWG cycling event

It's all on track. Preparations are on in full swing to make the cycling event at the Commonwealth Games a roaring success; even if that means curbing the freedom of some Delhiites.


Representative photo

Noida Expressway and Lutyens Zone are the designated venues for the crucial event. The trials are scheduled for October 13 in Noida. But local residents are not rejoicing; as view cutters would be employed in the line of sight of people living in high-rises next to the expressway.u00a0u00a0u00a0

Noida authority is planning to set up view cutters, each about 7-ft high, which would completely eclipse the cyclists on the track from the residents.

Traffic moving towards Greater Noida would be affected throughout the practice session and of course, during the race. The Noida authority along with the local police has already started laying out a road map for traffic diversions along with signboards on the expressway.

Chief Operating Officer of Noida Authority, CB Singh said: "We will be installing 7-ft high view cutters which will help us in blocking the view of the high-rise building which are near the expressway. This decision has been taken keeping in mind the safety of the players."

The traffic from Kalindi Kunj to Greater Noida will be diverted towards the Mahamaya flyover as the flow of vehicles would be closed only from the cloverleaf near the flyover. The traffic will run from the Sector-15A, Film City route towards Sector-37 and from there to Greater Noida.

During the practice session, which will begin from September 22, one side of the expressway will be blocked for two hours. Participants will start from the sector 82 flyover and will pedal 10 km towards Greater Noida. Till then all the traffic will be diverted from the flyover which will go to Greater Noida.
"To further tighten the security we are installing 24 watchtowers to monitor 20 km long racing track. Various parking sites will be created and permanent beautification of the cycling route will be carried out.u00a0

Not only in Noida but even the heart of Delhi will come to standstill during the cycling event. The cycle race at Luytens Zone will feature 160 men and 81 women, in two phases, and is scheduled for October 10. The route

Outsourcing on track

For the upkeep of the cycling track, Noida authority has decided to outsource the work to a private organisation for a period of 24 days. So far an estimated budget of Rs 10 lakh has been decided, which will be given for the upkeep and cleaning of the track. Around 80 employees will be deployed who will be engaged for regular cleaning of the track.

extends from Vijay Chowk to Janpath while passing through areas stacked with government offices like Shastri Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, Parliament Street, and bypassing major hotels and state houses like on SP Marg.
The track lies beside roads with bungalows like Talkatora Road, Ram Manohar Lohia circle, Teen Murti, South Avenue, Sunheri Masjid Road and Janpath.

On the day of the event the track will be completely out-of-bounds for the common public. During this period, there cannot be any movement on the route; no one can cross the road or walk on the track.
Now the big question is how can MPs, ministers and other dignitaries be placed on a "day-long house arrest"? The cyclists do not pass the route just once but follow 10 laps of 12 km each. The quarantine thus has to be maintained till the end with male participants hogging the first half from 9 am and women the later part till 6 pm.