South Delhi halt: Chirag Delhi flyover to be shut for 50 days from today

Once repairs on the Nehru Place-IIT Delhi carriageway are complete, the other carriageway will be shut for traffic for the next 25 days, said officials.

Commuters are likely to face traffic jams on routes towards all major South Delhi colonies, including Malviya Nagar, GK, CR Park, Panchsheel Park, Sheikh Sarai, IIT Delhi and Vasant Kunj with the Public Works Department shutting the Nehru Place-IIT Delhi carriageway on Chirag Delhi flyover from today for repairs for at least 25 days, officials aware of the matter said on Saturday.

A hoarding alerts commuters that repair work on the Chirag Delhi flyover is underway. In an advisory issued on Thursday, Delhi Traffic Police had announced that one carriageway on the flyover will be shut from Sunday. (HT Photo)

Once complete, the other carriageway will be shut for traffic for the next 25 days, they said.

SS Yadav, special commissioner of police (traffic), said that the traffic police have made elaborate arrangements for curbing traffic jams on the busy stretch. “We have installed nearly 70 signages on different roads so that the commuters do not get confused about traffic diversions. Since this stretch is very important and it always has a heavy traffic load from both sides, the PWD has been asked to complete the work within the stipulated time. We have decided to deploy at least 25 traffic personnel in each of the three shifts of eight hours,” he said.

He added that since the closure of carriageways may increase the volume of traffic in the area, commuters should plan their journey accordingly.

In an advisory issued on Thursday, Delhi Traffic Police had announced that one carriageway on the flyover will be shut from Sunday, and suggested alternative routes for commuters to cut traffic load on and around the flyover.

The advisory said that the traffic towards Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS and Defence Colony may take a right turn from under the Nehru Place flyover and follow Lala Lajpat Rai Marg towards Moolchand flyover. “For traffic headed in the opposite direction (IIT Delhi to Nehru Place), two diversion points have been suggested – at the Panchsheel and IIT flyovers each. Alternatively, they can take a left turn from IIT flyover towards Aurobindo Marg to go to Ring Road and then take the Moolchand flyover and then Lala Lajpat Rai Marg to reach their destination,” it said.

Repairs on the busy flyover, which allows commuters to bypass the congested intersection of Outer Ring Road and Josip Broz Tito Marg (also known as the old BRT corridor), have been pending for over a year now, said PWD officials aware of the matter.

The repairs were initially expected to begin this January, but were pushed back due to the closure of the Ashram flyover, which was only reopened on Monday. With traffic around Ashram intersection spilling on to Outer Ring Road, officials decided to hold the repairs off to avert the extant traffic mess around south and southeast Delhi getting worse.

The Chirag Delhi flyover is around 200m away from the Savitri Cinema flyover (which will also be shut for repairs, officials have said earlier), and is used by thousands of commuters every day, linking its neighbouring areas with other parts of south Delhi, as well as the Delhi airport and Gurugram.

A PWD official said that the extension joints of the flyover, which was built in 1992, will be repaired. “The heavy traffic movement on the flyover has led to its extension joints getting damaged. We need to undertake the repairs every 10 years to keep the structure, and commuters, safe,” the official added.

A second PWD official said repair material was procured and the contract awarded last year. The department, he said, was only awaiting a nod from the Delhi traffic police. “The traffic police earlier refused to provide a no-objection certificate due to Republic Day preparations, as well as closure of Ashram flyover,” an official added.