Heavy traffic jam near the Chirag Dilli flyover in the Capital on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Atishi has instructed officials to finish repair work on the Chirag Dilli flyover within 30 days. The Minister has also sought daily progress reports from the officials. The department had partially closed the flyover on March 12 for 50 days.
The partial closure of the flyover is causing inconvenience to commuters across south Delhi. For example, those travelling from Modi Mill to Panchsheel Park said a 15-20 minute journey now takes 30-40 minutes.
“There is unbearable traffic on my route now,” said Bodhisattwa Dasgupta, 48, an engineer who lives in C.R. Park and travels to Naraina six days a week. “To avoid the congestion, I go from Nehru Place to Moolchand flyover. However, I still end up wasting a lot of time and fuel,” Mr. Dasgupta said.
The PWD is carrying out repair work on the carriageway from Nehru Place to the IIT Delhi flyover. In an advisory issued on March 9, Delhi Traffic Police said repair work on each carriageway would take 25 days.
Ria Chopra, a resident of Greater Kailash-1, said she encountered heavy traffic jam on her way to Saket on Tuesday and that commuters had to divert and manage the congestion themselves in the absence of any traffic police personnel. “There was traffic congestion even after the Chirag Dilli stretch near Panchsheel Park. There were no police personnel in the area,” she said.
DCP Traffic (Southern Range) Dhirendra Pratap Singh said 30-40 signboards have been installed at Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, Josip Broz Tito Marg and on Outer Ring Road towards Hauz Khas and Nehru Place. “We’re planning to put up more signboards that are visible from a distance,” he said. “We have also deployed 14 officers on each carriageway; senior officers are regularly taking stock of the situation,” the DCP added.
Meanwhile, the traffic police advised commuters travelling between Gurugram and Delhi, especially those going to IGI Airport, to take alternate routes, with a section of the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH-48), between Rangpuri and Rajokari, being shut for 90 days due to construction work. The traffic police has asked commuters coming from Gurugram or Jaipur to use the Mehrauli-Gurugram road and those going towards Dwarka, Kapashera and Najafgarh to take the Palam road from the Gurugram road flyover.
(with inputs from Mehul Malpani)