Delhi Police wants public holiday declared from Sept 8-10; know why

The Delhi Police asked Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on Tuesday to declare a public holiday from September 8 to 10 for the G-20 Summit, which would be hosted in New Delhi.

The police have also requested that the chief secretary issue an order requiring commercial and business businesses in 'controlled zones' to remain closed.

Under the umbrella of the G20, India, which inherited the presidency in December, has been hosting world leaders and a series of meetings relating to 32 sectors across the country. The events will conclude in New Delhi on September 9-10 with a meeting of the leaders of government and states of member nations.

On Monday morning, traffic congestion in Central Delhi and highways leading to Gurugram was caused by special traffic arrangements to permit a carcade practice ahead of the summit. Special arrangements and restricts for rehearsal were expected to affect traffic in and near Salimgarh Bypass, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Bhairon Marg, Mathura Road, C-Hexagon, Sardar Patel Marg, and Gurgaon Road, according to Delhi police.

The Delhi traffic police are also anticipating a one-of-a-kind problem during the G20 summit: 100 left-hand drive (LHD) cars. While the police are willing to overlook the illegality — driving LHD vehicles is banned in India — they believe that the operational issues of LHD vehicles sharing roads with RHD vehicles are considerable. Some G20 member countries will provide some LHD vehicles; India's external affairs ministry has also brought some to shuttle the leaders.

Only India, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and the United Kingdom use RHD cars, while the others use LHD. According to a senior Delhi Police officer who sought anonymity, at least three countries, the United States, Russia, and China, have informed security authorities that they would like to ship in their own LHD vehicles.

“Their vehicles will soon reach India. Besides, the Ministry of external affairs (MEA) has purchased around 50 LHD bullet-proof Audi cars from Germany and these will reach India in a week or two,” the officer informed.

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