Chirag Delhi: Residents demand steps to decongest colony roads

A group of residents who met additional commissioner of traffic on Friday demanded that the police should explore the possibility of allowing two-way movement of vehicles on one carriageway, from IIT to Nehru Place, which is still open

Local residents have demanded the traffic police to take additional measures to curb traffic jams in colonies around Chirag Delhi flyover in New Delhi, which has been shut for repairs, triggering traffic snarls on the entire Outer Ring Road stretch as well as spillover traffic clogging the local thoroughfares.

Jam around Chirag Delhi flyover as workers repair one of its carriageways on Friday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

According to traffic police updates on Friday, there was a minimum 30-minute lag for the vehicles passing through the stretch. “Movement of traffic is slow in the carriageway from Nehru Place towards IIT flyover due to traffic diversions along Chirag Delhi flyover. Presently, there is a delay of 30 min to commute through this stretch,” the Delhi Traffic police wrote on Twitter at 1.10pm.

A group of residents who met additional commissioner of traffic on Friday demanded that the police should explore the possibility of allowing two-way movement of vehicles on one carriageway, from IIT to Nehru Place, which is still open. They also asked the police to put in place additional measures to ensure that the spillover traffic does not clog the colony streets.

“We requested the police officials concerned to permit traffic movement from both sides on the single carriageway that is still open. It’s important to regulate traffic instead of stopping it completely. The current mechanism has severely affected local residents and our commuting schedule. Police officials will be reviewing the situation on the ground,” said Chetan Sharma, a resident of Greater Kailash-II, and general secretary of the Confederation of NCR RWAs.

A senior Delhi traffic police official confirmed that the RWA representatives met the additional commissioner of police (traffic) with their charter of demands. “Our officials will visit the site and we will into the matter,” he said, asking not to be named.

Restriction on traffic movement on the flyover began from Sunday midnight with the Public Works Department (PWD) shutting the Nehru Place to IIT Delhi carriageway for 25 days to repair expansion joints. The opposite stretch will be shut for 25 days once repairs on the first carriageway are complete.

To be sure, PWD minister Atishi has directed the officials to finish the repair work in 30 days.

With tailbacks from the Chirag Delhi intersection often stretching till the Nehru Place junction 2 kilometres away, commuters using that carriageway to go towards Hauz Khas, Saket or Lajpat Nagar have started using colony roads to skip the clogged crossing.

On one side of Outer Ring Road, the worst affected stretches include EPDP Road, Inder Mohan Bhardwaj and CR Park Main Road, which link GK-2, Alaknanda, CR Park and Kalkaji. On the opposite side, Greater Kailash Road and Hansraj Gupta Marg, which serve as access points to GK-1, Pamposh Enclave, East of Kailash and Andrews Ganj, have been hit badly.

Maariya Rabbani, a commuter, said it took her 40 minutes to reach Chirag Delhi Metro station from GK-II in 40 minutes on Friday. Before the flyover closure, it took her 10-15 minutes, she added. “The flyover closure has significantly increased the travel time. Earlier, it used to take 10-15 minutes to reach Chirag Dilli from GK, but today it took me 40 minutes in an auto-rickshaw. My sister also ends up spending several hours commuting by bus from Chirag Delhi to our residence in Khanpur. The bus journey that took 45 minutes earlier, now takes an hour or two since buses get stuck in the traffic jam,” said Rabbani.

Ram Sundar Yadav, a resident of Chirag Delhi who works with a hotel in Pamposh Enclave, walked from GK-I to his residence on Friday. “On usual days, I take a bus from my work location and within five-ten minutes, I used to reach Chirag Delhi. However, due to the traffic mess on account of the flyover closure, buses get stuck in the snarl. I was stuck for an hour and decided to get down. Now, I have started walking to circumvent the traffic jam. It’s tiring and will take me at least 30-40 minutes but there is no other alternative,” said Yadav.

A number of food delivery agents are also facing a tough time offering services in South Delhi. Amit Kumar, who works with a food aggregator and covers neighbourhoods such as Nehru Place, Kailash Colony, Kalkaji, and GK-II, said that the delivery time has increased since the closure of the flyover. “The travel time has doubled now. The suggested alternative route through Moolchand is not doable either. While we are not penalised since the traffic time is taken into account, navigating the area is tedious,” said Kumar.

Ranjan Kumar, who works at the DDA flats, Masjid Moth phase 2, said that the closure of the flyover had exacerbated noise and dust pollution in the area, pointing to vehicular fumes and layers of dust emanating in the vicinity. “There is a lot of dust pollution and noise pollution in the area since the flyover was closed. Earlier, the stretch used to be largely less crowded but now starting from morning till late evening, we witness serpentine queues,” said Kumar.

Experts had also suggested that the traffic police should make the most of the available carriageway, and may allow two-way traffic during lean hours. “In the morning, the traffic towards Nehru place would be much heavier, but it would be lighter during the evening. After observing the situation for a few days, the agencies can take a call on using the one available carriageway for movement of traffic in both directions depending on demand level,” Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning in the School of Planning and Architecture, said.