Section of Mathura Road near Ashram to be shut for two days

The movement on the opposite carriageway — from Ashram Chowk to Bhogal — will continue normally as similar repair works on that stretch are likely to be completed by Saturday.

One section of the Delhi-Mathura Road — the section from Bhogal to Ashram Chowk — will be shut for vehicular traffic from 10am on Saturday to 6am on Monday to allow water pipelines to be repaired, the Delhi traffic police said on Friday.

People take shelter under a tree while it rains, at Mathura Road in New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The movement on the opposite carriageway — from Ashram Chowk to Bhogal — will continue normally as similar repair works on that stretch are likely to be completed by Saturday.

The traffic police had earlier closed the two carriageways, alternatively, between 10pm on 6am from Wednesday to Saturday for the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to carry out the repair works.

The closure notice comes days after Delhi minister Satyendar Jain had said both carriageways be shut for 10 days to carry out repairs on the crossing, which has become a severe choke-point, with construction work, waterlogging and damaged roads slowing traffic down to a crawl.

While the Delhi traffic police — the final authority on road closures — had said this would not be possible because of the traffic volume on the arterial road, experts concurred with the Delhi government’s view, saying that completely shutting the road was only the way out.

The traffic police said it decided to disallow movement on the stretch for nearly two full days after receiving a request from the DJB on Friday during a joint meeting with stakeholders, including the Public Works Department and the MTNL.

Data released by the traffic department shows that since the Covid-19 lockdown was eased and construction work on the stretch resumed with preliminary diversions, the intersection has been recording 11,600 vehicles an hour.

SD Mishra, additional commissioner of police (traffic), on Friday said the decision to close one carriageway was taken because of the lighter traffic on weekends. Mishra said adequate arrangement, in terms of deploying traffic police personnel and putting up signboards, have been made to ensure the commuters are aware of the diversions.

“All vehicles from Bhogal side to Ashram Chowk will be diverted on to Lodhi Road from Neela Gumbad (Subj Burj Circle). Those vehicles can then proceed onwards via Barapullah Flyover or Lala Lajpat Rai Marg,” Mishra said.

All traffic from Bhogal T-point would be diverted from Mathura Road towards Neela Gumbad.

Residents of neighbourhoods like Jangpura, Jangpura Extension, Bhogal, East and West Nizamuddin, who wish to travel towards Ashram Chowk, will have to proceed towards Neela Gumbad and then take Lodhi Road.

Mishra said the problem with pipelines arose while widening both carriageways of the road between Ashram and Bhogal during the construction of the underpass.

“The two carriageways were widened by removing the footpaths. In that process, the DJB pipelines laid under the footpaths came directly under the extended carriageways. Traffic load on Mathura Road caused the pipelines to begin leaking at a number of places,” said Mishra.

That in turn, caused waterlogging and slush to build up at several points of both carriageways.

“The resultant potholes and the shifting mud made traffic movement difficult, and increased the travel and wait time near Ashram Chowk,” Mishra said.

“But, only the Ashram to Bhogal carriageway is going to be ready by Saturday morning. Work hasn’t begun on the opposite carriageway,” he added.

Another problem that had cropped up was the damage to the MTNL cables, affecting 8,000 connections, and even they are likely to be fixed in the next two days, said the officer.

Jain had visited the intersection on Wednesday after HT reported how the project to decongest one of the busiest junctions of the national capital had instead turned it into a traffic and pollution hot spot. “Closing the Ashram-Nizamuddin section of the Mathura Road for 10 days is the only way to address the chaos at the intersection with Ring Road,” Jain had said.