Chirag Delhi phase 1 opens, partial road closure in phase 2

The Nehru Place to IIT carriageway on Chirag Delhi flyover was opened for traffic on Friday after 20 days of repair work, and one lane on the opposite carriageway was shut for the second phase of the refurbishment project.

The Public Works Department (PWD) had announced a 50-day schedule for repair of expansion joints on the arterial flyover.

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As the work shifted on the second carriageway, traffic snarls extended up to Hauz Khas Metro station and Khelgaon flyover in the morning rush hour. The PWD has fixed a 15-day deadline to complete repairs in the second phase. The Delhi Traffic Police has kept one lane open to allow light vehicles to pass through the flyover even as the repair work is restricted to one lane. Commuters headed towards Kalkaji, Nehru Place and Okhla reported 20–25-minute delays in crossing the Chirag Dilli intersection.

The repair work on the Chirag Dilli flyover began on March 12 with a 50-day deadline — 25 days for each carriageway. However, the closure of the first carriageway along with diversions on NH-48 threw the traffic in the region in a tail spin with jams reported in the internal colony roads as well as other arterial corridors. The area is a high-traffic intensity stretch with several residential colonies, schools and business district of Nehru Place and other markets being located there.

During a spot-check on Friday afternoon, HT found that while traffic on the newly opened carriageway was moving smoothly, there was queue length of at least 2 kilometres towards Panchsheel. Half of the carriageway under repair had been barricaded with traffic cones and drums and the PWD teams were digging up three of the 14 expansion joints of the flyover.

Four traffic police personnel and two traffic marshals had been deputed at the entry point of the flyover near Panchsheel B block to direct trucks and buses on the surface level. “In the second half of the repair, we have decided to keep one lane open for light vehicles. We are trying to manage the situation but there will be some ripple effect due to closure,” a traffic police officer deployed at the site said.

HT had reported about the trials of bidirectional movement being undertaken by placing the traffic cones on the IIT to Nehru Place on March 19.

Traffic marshals were seen arguing with truck and bus operators to move towards the congested slip road.

Ramesh Jhingan, who was going from RK Puram to Okhla industrial area on his bike, said that he spent half an hour stuck in the traffic between Hauz Khas and Chirag Delhi. “I am already late for my meeting with a businessman. I will try to avoid this route till the repair work is completed. It is a complete mess,” Jhingan said.

Kamlesh Sharma, who was going towards Kalkaji from Hauz Khas, said that this time at least the agencies have kept one lane open for light vehicles. “The slip road near Panchsheel enclave is narrow. If this lane was not kept open, it would have led to complete chaos. I hope they wrap up the work early,” Sharma said.

In order to prevent the jams spilling over to residential streets, the service lanes in Panchsheel Enclave have been barricaded by the colony RWA with guards regulating the traffic. With massive traffic jams on Outer Ring Road, these guards manning the barrier were seen having a tough time hassling with the vehicles attempting to prevent the thoroughfare via internal service roads. Vinod, a guard who goes by one name near B Block Panchsheel Park said that while the area was congested earlier as well but the traffic jam seemed uncontrollable on Friday. “So many people are fighting with us to let the vehicles pass via internal roads. This is not a common road,” he added.

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S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said, “From the engineering point of view, it seems a sound approach to carry out repair of half joints. PWD must have assessed the condition before taking this step. In terms of traffic movement, the agency must put up signage alerting commuters about diversions well ahead of the flyover,” he added