Jam spills over to connecting roads

CM Sheila Dikshit says the BRT system that brought traffic to a grinding halt will be scrapped if it cannot be fixed, report Atul Mathur and Sidhartha Roy.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that brought traffic to a grinding halt in parts of south Delhi will be scrapped if it cannot be fixed, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Thursday.

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Thousands of motorists have been stuck in massive traffic jams since the stretch from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand flyover was opened earlier this week.

“Let me please re-evaluate it … There are some glitches, we will try and put them right. If they are impossible, we will give it up,” Dikshit told reporters as government officials inspected the site and prepared for a review meeting on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Delhi assembly speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh demanded immediate scrapping of the corridor. In a letter to L-G Tejendra Khanna, Chaudhary said the BRT has malfunctioned, caused and created woes for common masses, besides mismanagement in traffic since its inception.

While Dikshit had given BRT authorities an ultimatum of 72 hours to improve the corridor by Saturday, senior officials say it would take more time.

Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf said it would take at least three-four more days or even a week for things to improve. “There are flaws in the system but they can be rectified,” Yusuf said. “The project is for the aam aadmi, and pedestrians and cyclists are benefiting from it,” he said.

The government won’t touch the other proposed corridors till the 5.8 km long Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand becomes totally smooth, Yusuf said. “No elected government can allow a system to come up if it brings unhappiness to people,” he said.

After the huge pileups of Wednesday, the condition became slightly better on Thursday. The volume of traffic had, however, simply shifted to the connecting roads. Khelgaon Marg, which is parallel to the stretch, was choked throughout the morning. The pileup of vehicles that started from South Extension almost touched Uday Park.