With Haryana deciding to impose strict curbs on vehicular movement from Gurugram through its borders with national capital Delhi, many have been left stranded on both sides of the inter-state borders.

Some affected persons complained that even those involved in essential services like police and healthcare professionals were at the receiving end of this arrangement.

In fact, nurses and other medical support staff have been facing an uphill task in entering Delhi for the last 36 hours.

Long traffic snarls were witnessed on the border on Friday amid the lockdown, with even car owners with valid movement passes not allowed to enter Delhi from Gurugram. However, the situation was slightly better on Saturday.

It is pertinent to mention here that a significant number of Delhi Police staff hail from various places in Haryana, and they travel to and fro from Delhi as part of their normal daily routine.

The Haryana authorities have been maintaining that though a police station may be providing an essential service, a personnel himself or herself is not. Consequently, Delhi Police personnel trying to reach Delhi from Jhajjar, Gurugram or Faridabad are facing an unprecedented situation.

On the other hand, the Gurugram District Magistrate has clarified that they haven’t sealed the border, per se.

“Thorough checking of any person coming from Delhi is done. If any person is working in Delhi he should reside there. Similar condition applies to employees working in Gurugram. The idea is to prevent cross-border movement to minimise the spread of coronavirus,” he said.

So, how is Delhi Police managing? Sources say Delhi Police has earmarked hotels in each of the 15 police districts in the national capital to put up its personnel on the forefront of the coronavirus battle. Priority is given to those not residents of Delhi.

Many calls have been made on Delhi Police helpline 100 by its personnel over dispute over entry to Delhi from inter-state borders, particularly the Delhi-Gurugram border.

Earlier, Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij had said that the state will be in a “comfortable position” if its borders with Delhi remained sealed for 15-20 days in view of the increasing number of corona hotspots in Delhi. All the districts in Delhi have been marked as Red Zone.

“We have sealed the Delhi-Haryana borders. Nobody, including Delhi Police officials staying in the NCR, are allowed to enter,” Vij earlier said.