With National Highway 24 (NH-24), which connects Delhi and Lucknow being submerged 4-feet under water, traffic movement has come to a complete halt, thereby affecting the movement of goods and supplies. The highway serves as the lifeline between the eastern parts of the state to its western part as well as the national capital region and with it remaining closed for the next two days, transportation of goods has already started being hit.
?Trade and industry have been badly hit by the closure of the highway. With trucks stuck midway, the movement of trucks has come to a complete halt. We are having a tough time in reaching goods to their respective destinations on time. This is specially true of products and commodities which are of everyday use such as food items and medicines as well as export items, which must reach the ports so as to be shipped on time. On normal days, I used to run 10 trucks daily, but since the last two days, not a single truck has either come in or gone out. All loading and unloading work, too, has suffered as none of the labourers are reporting to work,? says Rishab Chaurvedi of Hare Krishna Roadways in Moradabad, who is also the president of the Moradabad Transport Union.
It may be mentioned that the Lucknow-Delhi National Highway has been flooded near Moradabad and Rampur districts due to the release of water from the Kalagarh Dam in Uttarakhand.
?The direct effect of the blockade of the NH-24 is that supplies of commodities of daily use have taken a hit. No fresh supplies of food items, vegetables and even milk are coming in, as a result of which the prices of these items have shot up astronomically. Vegetables are 100% costlier today than what they were yesterday and if things are not taken in control, the situation may fast slip out of control,? said Sandeep Bansal, Udyog Vyapar Mandal.
?This is all the more true as almost 1.6 lakh hectares of land in western UP has been inundated, following which all the crops have suffered tremendously,? said Anil Shukla of Confederation of Indian Industry. ?In fact, food items which travel from the eastern parts of the state to the western part and Delhi are also not being able to come in, following which prices of food items have appreciated. And apart from the short time effect, the damage to the highway due to the flooding will also leave a long-term impact,? he added.
It may be mentioned that traffic movement on National Highway-24 connecting was suspended late on Saturday night after it was flooded by water from Koshi and Ram Ganga river, and is expected to remain suspended till Wednesday.
According to sources the flood situation aggravated after more than one lakh cusec from Kalagarh dam and 70,000 cusec from Dhaura, Behgul, Nanak Sagar dams in Ramganga river was released affecting more than 50 villages in Bareilly, Moradabad and Rampur districts. The suspension of vehicular movement has als on led to massive traffic jam on the route.The rains and flooding in Western UP have claimed as many as 7 lives till reports last came in.
Meanwhile chief minister Mayawati has directed the administration to carry out relief works in the flood-affected districts.