Delhi’s Ashram flyover shut, jam in all directions

The flyover was closed a little past midnight on Sunday, after a back-and-forth through the day, for at least a 45-day period in which snarls are expected in the area

There were hours-long jams on several arterial roads in south Delhi on Monday as the first weekday rush hour traffic reached the Ashram flyover, which was shut overnight for at least a 45-day period that, while expected, is set to be marked by unprecedented chaos for Capital’s commuters.

Serpentine traffic snarls were seen on several of Delhi’s arterial roads after the Ashram flyover was closed for vehicular traffic movement on Monday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The closure was finally carried out at a little past midnight on Monday, after initially being planned for Sunday when authorities did manage to barricade the overpass, but were forced to partially reopen it in the evening after traffic tailbacks reached at least 5km to the AIIMS flyover.

On Monday, however, authorities persevered, and commuters reeled with journey times having doubled, or even tripled.

“I spent around 1.5 hours to reach home in Noida’s Sector 12 in the evening, which took no more than 45 minutes when the Ashram flyover was open,” said Sachin Kapoor, who works at a coaching centre in South Extension, after returning in the evening.

In the morning, Aryan Srivastava spent close to half an hour returning from Lajpat Nagar to Kilokri, a distance of 3kms that would normally take 10 minutes.

Worst hit stretches

The situation was acute during the morning and even more severe during the evening office hours with vehicles stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Mathura Road and Ring Road. On Mathura Road, the worst of the congestion was on the carriageway leading to Ashram from Sarita Vihar, with jams at one point reaching the Apollo Hospital red-light close to 5km away.

On the other road, people coming from AIIMS were hit similarly, with traffic beginning to crawl from South Extension onwards.

The Public Works Department (PWD) has shut the flyover for construction work that will link it to a new overpass being built 50m away, part of a high-profile project to decongest what has been a perennially problematic stretch of road.

But some of the pain could have been avoided if PWD had prepared better, commuters and experts said.

“PWD has not done enough work to ensure a smooth shifting of the traffic from the flyover to the side ways. We are forced to walk on the roads because the footpaths don’t exist,” said Yogendra Bhatt, who lives in Sunlight Colony and walks to the Ashram metro station close by.

HT reported on Saturday that roads remained cratered, footpaths were yet to be rebuilt, and the debris continued to create obstructions for pedestrians and vehicles, a state of affairs that experts would further choke traffic since it will effectively be funnelled into an even narrower stretch than before.

A PWD official said that irrespective of what unfolds, the stretch can only be reopened when work is done because the tarmac has already been dug up. “Now none of the carriageways are going to reopen for traffic because the digging work has started at the point where the two carriageways of the flyover end (near DTL colony),” he said, requesting anonymity.

The Ashram intersection on the arterial Ring Road is used by over 350,000 vehicles daily and the flyover served to bypass traffic merging with that on the Mathura Road, which is also one of the most important routes in the Capital.

Cascading effects

Traffic police have advised commuters to use alternative routes to avoid the jams at the Ashram crossing.

A traffic police official said: “We are monitoring the situation and trying to ensure that commuters have to face minimum traffic snarls.” Traffic police have advised commuters to use alternative routes to avoid the jams at Ashram.

The diversions led to bad traffic in several far away traffic junctions as well, particularly around Bhairon Marg and the Barapullah elevated road, the other junctions from where traffic coming from South and Central Delhi could take to reach the Ring Road.

A traffic police staff deployed at Ashram Chowk said: “Additional traffic personnel have been deployed at the site to manage traffic. During office going hours traffic congestion was witnessed from DND towards Lajpat Nagar, while during the evening hours, major congestion was witnessed which extended up to Lajpat Nagar from Ashram Chowk. The Ashram underpass was congestion free.”

A diversion advisory is in place for the period of the closure.

Commuters from Badarpur have been advised to take Mata Mandir Marg for Ring Road and Sarai Kale Khan. “Commuters coming from Badarpur, Sarita Vihar, and Jamia are advised to follow a U-turn for Captain Gaur Marg, Lajpat Nagar, AIIMS, and commuters coming from Chirag Delhi and the IIT side are advised to follow Ring Road for Noida,” the advisory said.

Similarly, commuters from Akshardham and Noida have been asked to head more to the city’s central and take the Bhairon Road and Mathura Road for AIIMS and Dhaula Kuan, while those from AIIMS and New Delhi are advised to go via Lodhi Road and Lala Lajpat Rai Marg to join the Ring Road near Pragati Maidan.

But for categories of commuters, especially those travelling between south Delhi and east Delhi or via the DND Flyway, the detours can be as bad as the jams.

Experts said it was crucial for PWD to have rebuilt the road surface – a process known as recarpeting. S Velmurugan, chief scientist of Central Road Research Institute, said: “The obstructions are putting brakes on the vehicles, and slowing down the discharge of the vehicles, leading to traffic congestion.”

Experts have also said they fear the closure could be extended, considering the scale of what needs to be done and the past record of road works of this size.

A retired Delhi police officer, who also served as special CP (traffic), told HT last week that he was sceptical of the work being completed in the period. “Their previous track record is not very encouraging. In my experience, it will be a miracle if they complete the project in 90 days. I know from the day the PWD commences the construction work, only Delhi police will have to face the music,” this person said.