Ambulance Stranded for 50 Minutes Due to Kanwariya Protest on Delhi-Meerut Road

An ambulance carrying a patient to hospital remained stranded for nearly 50 minutes on Delhi-Meerut road on Monday morning after a minor collision with a tractor-trolley carrying kanwariyas triggered a blockade. The ambulance, which was shifting a patient — a kanwar pilgrim himself — from a health centre in Muradnagar to Sanjay Nagar Hospital around 7am, brushed against the tractor-trolley parked along the roadside. Soon after, a group of pilgrims gathered at the spot, alleging the collision had damaged their kanwar and the trolley, and staged a protest that brought traffic on the busy corridor to a standstill. For nearly an hour, vehicles remained trapped on the road, with the ambulance unable to move either despite carrying a patient requiring urgent hospital care. Police reached the spot, spoke to the protesting pilgrims and cleared a passage for the ambulance, which left around 10 minutes after senior officers intervened. The blockade itself was lifted after nearly 50 minutes. Surendra Nath Tiwari, DCP (rural), said no one was injured in the collision. “The pilgrims alleged that their kanwar and tractor-trolley had been damaged. Police persuaded them to end the protest and normal traffic was restored. No complaint has been received in the matter,” he added. Chief medical officer Sachin Vaishya said the patient was a kanwariya who had suffered a snakebite and was being shifted to Sanjay Nagar Hospital when the collision occurred. “The ambulance driver was also injured and admitted for treatment. The snakebite patient was later referred to GTB Hospital,” he added. The incident prompted an immediate rethink of traffic arrangements. Traffic cops advanced a one-way diversion plan that was originally scheduled to come into force on Aug 5, citing the rising number of pilgrims and Monday’s disruption. Under the revised arrangement, the carriageway from Meerut towards Ghaziabad has been earmarked exclusively for kanwariyas, while all regular vehicular traffic is being diverted to the opposite carriageway. The one-way system will remain in force till Aug 12. Varun Singh, ADCP, said the increase in pilgrim movement made it necessary to implement the diversion ahead of schedule. “One carriageway has been reserved for pilgrims and the other for vehicles. The arrangement will continue till Aug 12,” he said. The diversion, however, led to long queues through the morning. Raghuveer Singh, a commuter travelling from Muradnagar to Sahibabad, said his daily one-hour journey stretched to almost two hours. The restrictions are expected to tighten further later this week. From Aug 7, the UP stretch of Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) will also be closed to general traffic for five days to facilitate the yatra, with motorists diverted to alternative routes as pilgrim numbers peak ahead of Shravan Shivratri. Together, the measures are expected to significantly alter traffic movement across Ghaziabad and adjoining districts until the pilgrimage concludes.