Bringing relief to thousands of commuters, the irrigation department opened the Noida-Delhi carriageway on the Kalindi Kunj bridge five days ahead of the deadline on Sunday. This stretch was closed on January 23 for repair work.

After 25 days of repair work, the carriageway was thrown open for public at 2pm on Sunday. Due to its closure, massive traffic jams were reported in Noida. The DND flyway was made toll-free for three hours during peak rush.

The decision was taken after a senior officer of irrigation department inspected the repair work of the bridge on Sunday.

"The Noida-Delhi stretch was reopened at 2pm on Sunday, five days ahead of the deadline. Senior officers inspected the work of the bridge and were satisfied with the work. Work on the road markings could not happen due to rain. We will finish it off by barricading certain portions of the bridge," said RS Yadav, executive engineer, irrigation department, Uttar Pradesh.

The PWD has claimed to have repaired the expansion joints and rocker roller bearing of the bridge.

The bridge is a vital link between South Delhi and Noida and was constructed around 25 years ago. Since then, it hadn't been repaired even once.

Commuters to and from Delhi had been facing long traffic jams due to the bridge's closure. Even the DND flyway was forced to do away with the toll during peak hours due to the jams.