Monday madness on city roads as road repairs hamper traffic

Commuters were stuck in serpentine traffic snarls in central Delhi on Monday. Delhi traffic police said that the repair work on a portion of Bhairon Marg that had

Commuters were stuck in serpentine traffic snarls in central Delhi on Monday. Delhi traffic police said that the repair work on a portion of Bhairon Marg that had caved in, along with the construction of an underpass from Nizamuddin railway bridge to Ashram intersection on Mathura Road, resulted in vehicles crawling at snail’s pace especially during the peak hours of morning and evening.

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On July 22, a portion of central Delhi’s Bhairon Marg had caved in after a heavy downpour. The traffic police said that the Public Works Department (PWD) is yet to complete the repair work, which is adding to traffic jams in the area.

“The area was already a mess due to PWD’s work on an integrated project around Pragati Maidan. With the cave-in, traffic management has become a bigger problem, especially with the high volume of vehicles here,” said a senior traffic police officer.

A senior PWD official said that the repair work at Bhairon Marg was completed late Monday night and traffic would be normalised on the stretch from Tuesday.

“We have placed crash barriers along the affected area, so that such an incident would not reoccur even if it rains in the coming days,” the official said.

The traffic was also made worse by the ongoing construction of a 750-metre underpass connecting Nizamuddin railway bridge and the Ashram intersection. The department has already put a traffic diversion plan in place to accommodate the increased load, but the unforeseen increase due to the Bhairon Marg cave-in led to spillovers.

Sumer Ahluwalia, a resident of Sukhdev Vihar, said that it took her an hour to reach her client’s office in Connaught Place. The journey usually takes 30 minutes in the morning.

“There are several traffic diversions and I am sure if I had walked instead, I would have reached earlier,” said Ahluwalia.

Along with areas around Pragati Maidan, IP Estate, Meerut Expressway, Barapullah flyover, DND Flyway, Noida Link Road, Vikas Marg, ITO crossing, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Minto Road, the Connaught Place roundabout and India Gate roundabout were also clogged.

Traffic snarls were also witnessed in east Delhi. Alerts from the traffic police stated that there was heavy traffic from Surya Nagar to Dilshad Garden because of the underpass repair work near Surya Nagar.

“Traffic to remain heavy in the carriageway from Surya Nagar towards Dilshad Garden due to ongoing repair work of underpass by DJB and PWD. Motorists are advised to use flyover while going towards Dilshad Garden,” an alert issued by the Delhi traffic police at 1pm on Monday read.