Govt identifies 62 chronic traffic choke points in Delhi worsening city’s air

Manjinder Singh Sirsa said short-term interventions have already begun at several sites, with medium- and long-term structural upgrades to follow

The Delhi government has identified 62 traffic congestion hot spots across the Capital – choke points that officials said are adding a “measurable layer” to the city’s pollution load – after drawing up a citywide, multi-agency decongestion blueprint, officials said on Friday.

More than half of the 62 sites see severe jams during morning and evening rush hours, an internal presentation of the government showed. (HT Photo/Sunil Ghosh)

An internal presentation, accessed by HT, shows these bottlenecks stretch across nearly every district: from the chronically clogged Bhavbhuti Marg outside New Delhi Railway Station to Madhuban Chowk in northwest Delhi, Mayur Vihar Phase III in the east, South Extension in the south, Punjabi Bagh in the west, and the dense transit corridors around Kashmere Gate and Anand Vihar.

More than half of the 62 sites see severe jams during morning and evening rush hours, it showed. Prominent among those are Safdarjung Hospital, Ajmeri Gate, the road outside Max Hospital in Saket and the Punjabi Bagh roundabout on Ring Road. Another 11 spots, experience intense evening load while six areas were found to be choked on weekends.

Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Friday that short-term interventions have already begun at several sites, with medium- and long-term structural upgrades to follow. “We have already begun work on the short-term measures, and the medium-term measures will kick in soon. In a few months, there will be considerable difference at these points,” Sirsa told HT, adding that congestion-specific action plans were being integrated into the broader anti-pollution strategy.

The list of hot spots – jointly compiled by several agencies – reveals recurring structural failings: narrow carriageways, broken medians, illegal parking, encroachments, poorly designed intersections and long-running civil works. At several locations, the triggers are hyperlocal. At Boulevard Road near Tis Hazari, advocates’ cars routinely occupy both carriageways and obstruct two DTC bus stands, causing hours-long snarls on working days. At Majnu Ka Tila, ongoing work on a foot overbridge, narrow lanes, unregulated parking and weekend rush to the Tibetan market create gridlock.

Short-term measures include deploying additional personnel during peak hours, acting against illegal parking and wrong-side driving, clearing hawker encroachments and quick engineering fixes such as repainting lanes, stop lines and zebra crossings. “Pothole repair has been prioritised, especially on high-stress corridors,” an official said.

The medium-term 30–90 day plan focuses on junction redesign, new traffic islands, optimised signal cycles, relocation of bus stops and auto stands, removal of encroachments and improved signage, blinkers and reflectors in areas with poor visibility or heavy pedestrian movement.

The long-term plan, with timelines of 90 days and beyond, includes widening roads where feasible, building permanent service lanes, constructing foot overbridges and underpasses, and installing smart traffic systems such as adaptive signals and dedicated bus lanes.

It also calls for landscaped barricading to prevent jaywalking, identified as a major cause of intermittent traffic stoppages on arterial roads.

Among the toughest stretches is the Kalindi Kunj merge point, where six lanes from Noida funnel into three lanes inside Delhi, overwhelming capacity at peak hours. At Sarai Kale Khan, RRTS and railway station traffic, suggested fixes include redesigned merge lanes, grade separators and separate bays for buses and autos.

Sunil Dahiya, founder of the environmental think-tank Envirocatalysts, welcomed the focus on congestion as a pollution-control measure. “The ultimate solution lies in robust public transport, safe cycling lanes and walkable pathways. Without real investment in these, we are merely managing congestion, not eliminating it,” he said.