Ashram crossing bottleneck gets narrower, traffic disarray worsens

The commuters said that debris, muck, barricading, and additional closures have made the vital intersection even harder to negotiate, with prohibited vehicles, like interstate buses and trucks, adding to the chaos.

The traffic disarray at the Ashram intersection has worsened over the past 10 days, after authorities left just one lane open for traffic moving from Bhogal towards Badarpur, tightening an already narrow bottleneck and making commuters spend about an additional hour at the junction, motorists said.

Traffic police personnel at the intersection admitted that the snarls had got worse over the past week-and-a-half. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The commuters said that debris, muck, barricading, and additional closures have made the vital intersection even harder to negotiate, with prohibited vehicles, like interstate buses and trucks, adding to the chaos.

An HT spot check on Monday backed these claims. With traffic in full flow during the festive season, a terrible traffic situation at a crucial intersection used by around 350,000 vehicles during peak hours each day has effectively been made worse.

Subhash Jain (32), a daily commuter on the stretch, said, “You have to keep in mind that you could be stuck for an additional hour in this mess.”

The Delhi traffic police on October 23 issued an advisory informing commuters that a lane on Mathura Road for traffic moving towards Badarpur would be shut to make way for the relocation of a 7km-long, high-power transmission line along the Ashram Chowk underpass.

“Vehicles coming on Ring Road from Sarai Kale Khan, and taking left towards Badarpur are advised to take CV Raman Marg-Mathura Road or Ashram flyover-Capt Gaur Marg- Modi Mill Flyover for Badarpur. Likewise, traffic on Mathura road from Nizammudin seeking to cross Ashram for Badarpur are advised to turn right and take Captain Gaur Marg-Modi Mill flyover for the onward journey,” the traffic police said in its official advisory.

Gyanendra Mishra (48) who was travelling towards Sarita Vihar on Monday, complained about the damaged road along the underpass construction site. “The roads around all the infrastructure projects are very poorly managed. The traffic jam due to construction work is understandable, but at least the roads nearby can be maintained. The Delhi Metro corporation carried out so much work in the city, causing people very little inconvenience,” he said.

Aashu Chandel, 28, who rides a motorcycle to his workplace in Faridabad said the situation has worsened over the past one week. “The road has got narrower and new parts have been dug up. It has made the stretch even more difficult to cross,” he said.

Traffic police personnel at the intersection admitted that the snarls had got worse over the past week-and-a-half.

“We have sent several reminders to the Public Works Department to expedite the project,” a traffic police officer said.

“We will consider increasing deployment once the traffic load at other sites eases up due to the festive season,” the officer added.

A senior PWD official said the bottleneck due to the barricading will ease only after Diwali.

The 750-metre underpass, which connects Nizamuddin railway bridge and CSIR Apartments at the Ashram intersection, has already missed four deadlines since the work began on the project in 2019.

Even though work was still on to construct the underpass, the government in February simultaneously launched work on extending the Ashram flyover on Ring Road. The two projects running together have made Ashram — which connects south and central Delhi, and virtually serves as the connection for Noida and Faridabad — a traffic nightmare.

Additional commissioner of police (traffic) SD Mishra said, “Keeping in view the problems faced by commuters at the Ashram Chowk, the traffic police force has deployed more forces during the peak commuting hours.”