Chirag Delhi flyover work to continue at night: Govt

Repairs at the Chirag Delhi flyover will now be carried out round the clock in order to minimise the closure period and ease traffic in the region, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday

Repairs at the Chirag Delhi flyover will now be carried out round the clock in order to minimise the closure period and ease traffic in the region, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

Traffic jam in Chirag Delhi in New Delhi on Monday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

In a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said, “I am personally monitoring the progress of the project. The flyover will be repaired and opened for the traffic movement fast so that people get relief from traffic jams.”

Earlier, the state public works department (PWD) worked on the carriageway from 8am to 10pm.

A PWD official at the site said high-intensity lights have been installed near the expansion joints that are being replaced on the flyover to allow repairs at night.

Restrictions on traffic movement on the flyover began on March 12, when PWD shut the Nehru Place to IIT Delhi carriageway of the key flyover for 25 days to allow structural repairs. Once repairs on this carriageway are complete, the opposite stretch will be shut for another 25 days.

To be sure, Delhi PWD minister Atishi earlier urged the department to wrap up the project in 30 days instead of 50. State authorities have also considered keeping one lane of the

Kejriwal’s announcement came even as this key stretch on Outer Ring Road continued to see massive traffic snarls, which were exacerbated by rain on Monday evening.

During a spot check at the construction site, HT found that three out of the 14 expansion joints on the first carriageway have been completely repaired and with wet cloth and thermocol layers to allow the new concrete and joints to settle.

On Sunday, the Delhi traffic police carried out a trial to explore the possibility of two-way movement on the existing two-lane carriageway from IIT Delhi to Nehru Place. Officers initially said they will conduct a similar trial on Monday morning. This place, however, was nixed in light of the weekday’s rush hour traffic.

Meanwhile, commuters continued to suffer while crossing this stretch.

Dev Brat, who was travelling on his motorcycle from Okhla Phase 2 to Green Park, said, “Going towards Okhla is easier, but the return journey forces you to spend an extra 30-40 minutes in traffic.”

Afza Bhardwaj, another commuter going from New Friends Colony to Aerocity, said, “It took me over 30 minutes to cross this stretch in the evening.”

The traffic police issued an advisory on Twitter in the evening, which said, “Movement of traffic is slow from Nehru Place towards IIT Flyover due to traffic diversions along Chirag Delhi Flyover. Presently, there is a delay of 25-30 minutes to commute through this stretch.”