Delhi: Sarita Vihar flyover to be repaired, hit traffic

The carriageway from Badarpur to Ashram will now be shut for repairs until August 8, PWD officials said

The Public Works Department (PWD) is set to resume repair work on the Sarita Vihar flyover from Friday, partially shutting it until August 8, which is likely to affect traffic flow from southeast Delhi, Noida and Faridabad, with the traffic police giving clearances and announcing traffic curbs and alternative routes for motorists.

Sarita Vihar flyover. (HT Archive)

The carriageway from Badarpur to Ashram will now be shut for repairs, PWD officials said, adding that they started the long-pending repair work in October 2024, but paused it midway due to rising pollution levels and subsequent enforcement of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) to mitigate dust in Delhi-NCR.

Traffic Police said they have made all necessary arrangements and deployed at least 50 additional staffers at the flyover to regulate traffic flow.

“The work had stopped due to the election, model code of conduct and some weather conditions. Then fresh permissions were sought for traffic restrictions before starting work,” a PWD official said.

The Sarita Vihar flyover, which connects Delhi with Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Faridabad in Haryana and pockets of southeast Delhi, will undergo its first major repair in 24 years. The flyover is located on the Mathura Road. PWD had announced it would undertake repairs in 2023, but work has been delayed multiple times over the past two years due to a multitude of issues, such as untimely publication of traffic diversion advertisements in newspapers leading to withdrawal of clearance from traffic police, Lok Sabha elections, Kawar Yatra and rising pollution.

After pausing work last October, PWD shut parts of the flyover for repair work. The first phase of the repairs is complete, said PWD officials, citing repairs on the carriageway from Ashram to Badarpur.

Alternative routes announced

According to information shared by the traffic police, people travelling from Badarpur in southeast Delhi to south Delhi and onwards to Faridabad, will face traffic congestion near Mathura Road.

A senior police officer said that hour-long jams may be recorded in areas of Sarita Vihar, New Friends Colony, Okhla, and Govindpuri.

In an advisory, the Delhi Traffic Police said that the carriageway from Badarpur to Ashram will remain closed and asked commuters to avoid the affected stretch.

The police said, “Vehicles moving from Badarpur border and heading towards Ashram via Mathura Road may use two alternate routes.”

Commuters from Badarpur border can use the MB Road to move towards Pul Prahladpur and Lal Kuan, and then make a right towards Maa Anandmai Marg, Crowne Plaza, Govindpuri, and further use the Modi Mill flyover to reach the Mathura Road and then Ashram.

The police said that besides, commuters can also use the slip road adjacent to the Sarita Vihar flyover, turn left for Okhla, move towards Crowne Plaza and onwards to Govindpuri, where they can turn right towards the Modi Mill flyover to reach Mathura Road.

Traffic officials said movement of heavy and commercial vehicles on Mathura Road from Badarpur towards Sarita Vihar flyover will be restricted.

Motorists have been facing traffic woes in and around Kalindi Kunj, Mathura Road and Sarita Vihar due to curbs imposed for the Kanwar Yatra over the past week. The repair work will further exacerbate motoring issues for two more weeks.

Ananya Sen, 29, who works near Moolchand Hospital, said, “We have already been facing problems because of the Kanwar route. I have to go to Sarita Vihar and there’s absolutely no traffic management by the police. This is going to be the same as when government was repairing Chilla flyover. We will have to suffer 1-2 hours waiting in cars or autos...”