On Wednesday, traffic jams plagued commuters for the third day in a row after some major parts of Delhi were closed for repair and construction work. The Chirag Delhi Flyover was closed from Sunday for 50 days, while a section of the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH-48) between Rangpuri and Rajokari was closed from Tuesday for 90 days.
Keshav Kumar, a trader, said, “The situation in south and southeast Delhi is the same. I came from Noida and thought that the Ashram flyover would provide relief, but I had no idea about the bumper-to-bumper traffic in Chirag, Delhi. Now, I have to go to Gurugram and am planning to take the metro due to the traffic situation” Vrinda Bhatia, who works in central Delhi, said she reached home on Tuesday after spending two hours on choked roads.
“I work in central Delhi and commute up from Gurugram. On Tuesday, the traffic situation was smooth in the morning when I was going to work. However, when I was returning home, it seemed like the whole of Delhi had choked. It took me two-and-a-half hours to reach Gurugram. Today, I took the metro to work and am thinking to continue this till the stretch reopens,” Bhatia said.
Several other commuters also shared updates of the traffic situation on Twitter. One of them said he had been stuck for 35 minutes and had moved only 150 meters at Chirag Delhi.
Others said there was a massive jam at Ashram and also heavy traffic between Kapashera and Rajokari. The commuters also took alternate routes to reach their destinations. “We were getting regular updates about the closure of the Chirag Delhi Flyover and the portion on NH-18 through news and social media.”
“Since Monday, I am taking the Bijwasan route to go to Gurugram. Though there is more traffic than usual, the stretch is more convenient than the main NH-48,” Ankit Upadhyaya, an MNC employee, stated. Traffic was also affected in west Delhi due to construction work, with traffic police asking people to avoid the stretch.
“Movement of traffic is slow from Raja Garden towards Britannia Chowk due to construction work on the Punjabi Bagh flyover. There is a delay of 10-15 minutes to commute this stretch. Kindly avoid the stretch,” the Delhi Traffic Police tweeted.
On Tuesday, PWD Minister Atishi directed officials to complete the maintenance work of the Chirag Delhi flyover within a month as opposed to 50 days. The minister held a meeting with senior officials of the public works department (PWD) to resolve the issue on a priority basis.