Covid restrictions Long queues outside metro stations DTC buses damaged
New Delhi Dec 30 PTI Long queues of people were seen outside various Delhi Metro stations for the second consecutive day on Thursday after the imposition of fresh curbs by authorities to check the spread of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the national capitalMeanwhile anticipating a huge rush of commuters on the New Years Eve Delhi Metro authorities have decided that exit from the Rajiv Chowk metro station will not be allowed after 9 pm on FridayHowever with new Covid restrictions and a night curfew in place from 10 pm onwards in Delhi amid a scare of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus the crowd is likely to be smallEvery year revellers gather at Connaught Place the heart of New Delhi adjacent to the Rajiv Chowk metro station to ring in the new yearTo ease overcrowding on New Years Eve 31st December 2021 exit from Rajiv Chowk metro station will not be allowed from 9 pm onwards However entry of passengers will be allowed till the departure of the last train from the station Commuters are requested to plan their journey accordingly the DMRC said in a statement on ThursdayA yellow alert under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP was sounded by the DDMA on Tuesday which entails the running of DTC buses and metro trains with 50 per cent seating capacity and no provision for standing for commutersFor the second consecutive day since the restrictions came into force the queues were seen getting longer at some of the stations in the morning hours when metro services are used by a large number of office-goers officials said adding that they are doing theirs best to ensure compliance of the Covid normsHuge queues of commuters were seen outside the Laxmi Nagar and Akshardham stations among other station on Wednesday Many had taken to Facebook and Twitter to share pictures of queues outside metro stationsMeanwhile a group of people blocked the MB Road and damaged a few DTC buses on Thursday morning after not being allowed to board a bus that had exceeded the permissible passenger-carrying capacityPolice used mild force to disperse the crowd and five people were detained officials saidSources said as offices are open and not many can afford a private car or other means of transportation every day they are bound to use public transport and such queues will be seen if the 50 per cent seating capacity rule is in placeDelhi resident Rameen Khan who goes to his office in Gurgaon by metro said there was a massive queue at the stationIn a statement on Thursday evening DMRC said its permissible carrying capacity had drastically got reduced from 2400 to 200 for an eight-coach trainAn eight-coach metro train can carry about 2400 passengers with approximately 50 seating passengers and 250 standing passengers in every coach With the present restrictions of 50 per cent seating and no standing provision each coach can now accommodate only about 25 passengers it saidTherefore an eight-coach train can now accommodate approximately 200 passengers only This is less than 10 per cent of a trains normal carrying capacity the DMRC saidTherefore travel only if absolutely essential Also keep extra time in your commute by the metro as entry has to be regulated to ensure compliance with the guidelines which is resulting in queues outside stations a senior DMRC official saidOn Wednesday the DMRC had said as part of the intensified measures for curbing the spread of COVID-19 15 flying squads were deployed across the Delhi Metro network to ensure that the Covid safety protocols are strictly adhered to by the passengers inside the trains and on the DMRC premisesThe frequency of checking drives is also being increased to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines and offenders are also being penalised on the spot a senior official had saidThe DMRC networks current span is nearly 392 km with 286 stations including the Noida-Greater Noida Metro Corridor and Rapid Metro GurgaonIndia saw the highest single-day rise of 180 cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus taking the tally of such cases to 961 in the country according to the Union health ministrys data updated on ThursdayDelhi recorded the maximum number of263 cases followed by Maharashtra 252 Gujarat 97 Rajasthan 69Kerala65 and Telangana 62The national capital recorded a whopping 923 fresh Covid cases on Wednesday the highest daily rise since May 30 as the positivity rate breached the 1 per cent-mark 129 per cent for the second consecutive dayPTI KND NIT RC
New Delhi Dec 30 PTI Long queues of people were seen outside various Delhi Metro stations for the second consecutive day on Thursday after the imposition of fresh curbs by authorities to check the spread of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the national capitalMeanwhile anticipating a huge rush of commuters on the New Years Eve Delhi Metro authorities have decided that exit from the Rajiv Chowk metro station will not be allowed after 9 pm on FridayHowever with new Covid restrictions and a night curfew in place from 10 pm onwards in Delhi amid a scare of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus the crowd is likely to be smallEvery year revellers gather at Connaught Place the heart of New Delhi adjacent to the Rajiv Chowk metro station to ring in the new yearTo ease overcrowding on New Years Eve 31st December 2021 exit from Rajiv Chowk metro station will not be allowed from 9 pm onwards However entry of passengers will be allowed till the departure of the last train from the station Commuters are requested to plan their journey accordingly the DMRC said in a statement on ThursdayA yellow alert under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP was sounded by the DDMA on Tuesday which entails the running of DTC buses and metro trains with 50 per cent seating capacity and no provision for standing for commutersFor the second consecutive day since the restrictions came into force the queues were seen getting longer at some of the stations in the morning hours when metro services are used by a large number of office-goers officials said adding that they are doing theirs best to ensure compliance of the Covid normsHuge queues of commuters were seen outside the Laxmi Nagar and Akshardham stations among other station on Wednesday Many had taken to Facebook and Twitter to share pictures of queues outside metro stationsMeanwhile a group of people blocked the MB Road and damaged a few DTC buses on Thursday morning after not being allowed to board a bus that had exceeded the permissible passenger-carrying capacityPolice used mild force to disperse the crowd and five people were detained officials saidSources said as offices are open and not many can afford a private car or other means of transportation every day they are bound to use public transport and such queues will be seen if the 50 per cent seating capacity rule is in placeDelhi resident Rameen Khan who goes to his office in Gurgaon by metro said there was a massive queue at the stationIn a statement on Thursday evening DMRC said its permissible carrying capacity had drastically got reduced from 2400 to 200 for an eight-coach trainAn eight-coach metro train can carry about 2400 passengers with approximately 50 seating passengers and 250 standing passengers in every coach With the present restrictions of 50 per cent seating and no standing provision each coach can now accommodate only about 25 passengers it saidTherefore an eight-coach train can now accommodate approximately 200 passengers only This is less than 10 per cent of a trains normal carrying capacity the DMRC saidTherefore travel only if absolutely essential Also keep extra time in your commute by the metro as entry has to be regulated to ensure compliance with the guidelines which is resulting in queues outside stations a senior DMRC official saidOn Wednesday the DMRC had said as part of the intensified measures for curbing the spread of COVID-19 15 flying squads were deployed across the Delhi Metro network to ensure that the Covid safety protocols are strictly adhered to by the passengers inside the trains and on the DMRC premisesThe frequency of checking drives is also being increased to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines and offenders are also being penalised on the spot a senior official had saidThe DMRC networks current span is nearly 392 km with 286 stations including the Noida-Greater Noida Metro Corridor and Rapid Metro GurgaonIndia saw the highest single-day rise of 180 cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus taking the tally of such cases to 961 in the country according to the Union health ministrys data updated on ThursdayDelhi recorded the maximum number of263 cases followed by Maharashtra 252 Gujarat 97 Rajasthan 69Kerala65 and Telangana 62The national capital recorded a whopping 923 fresh Covid cases on Wednesday the highest daily rise since May 30 as the positivity rate breached the 1 per cent-mark 129 per cent for the second consecutive dayPTI KND NIT RC
