Doors will close on the right: Protests prompt Metro to shut several stations

Asked if it is assumed that people going to a march will create ruckus, Singh said: “Police take a number of precautionary measures to prevent untoward incidents. The closing of Metro gates is one such measure.”

Thursday’s shutdown was the sixth instance in December, and seventh in less than a month, when Metro closed a selected number of centrally located stations “based on police inputs”.

DMRC has maintained such measures are aimed at ensuring safety and security. However, stations in the vicinity of peaceful protests have also been shut without prior notice.

A total of 20 metro stations were on Shut on Thursday.

On December 15, when campuses across the city had called protest marches against the police crackdown on students in Jamia, DMRC shut down 16 stations. The move was ostensibly aimed at preventing students from gathering in front of the police headquarters, which was reflected in the choice of stations identified for closing down — Vishwavidyalaya, IIT, Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram.

The DMRC said the authority to close stations lies with the security agencies. “Owing to safety and security reasons, we had to close some stations for a few hours this week. The safety of our passengers and the security of Metro property is paramount to us and we have to ensure the same as per the advice given by the authorities,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

A number of stations were also closed on December 16, a day after violence in Jamia, when student associations organised protests in many parts of the city.

On December 14, as people started turning up at Jantar Mantar to protest against the new citizenship law, DMRC announced closing of entry and exit points at Janpath station. On December 13, when Youth Congress organised protests in Central Delhi, the entry and exit at Patel Chowk and Janpath stations were closed. Authorities had said this was done on the “advice of Delhi Police”.

December 9 saw gates of four stations — Udyog Bhawan, Lok Kalyan Marg, Central Secretariat — being shut as JNUSU took out a march against fee hike in the university. Udyog Bhawan, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Lok Kalyan Marg and Jorbagh stations were shut down on November 18. The move effectively covered all the possible exit points that the JNU students may have taken to lead their scheduled march till Parliament against the fee hike.