Traffic diversions at Chilla border forces commuters to take long route

When Noida traffic police put in place diversions near Chilla border from on Monday, which kicks in every time the traffic load increases, it was widely expected that the measure would help decongest the key road linking Noida with the national capital and give commuters a reprieve from perennial jams.

However, these diversions have only ended up creating more headache for commuters going from Delhi (Mayur Vihar) to Noida via the Chilla border. They now have to travel an extra four to five kilometres to reach the Noida Greater-Noida Expressway, besides facing congestion on internal roads.

Traffic police said it was to avoid long tailbacks from Film City Road to Chilla red light that they were forced to divert traffic towards Sector 15, which then connects to the expressway via Sector 16 and 18 roads.

Commuter Dinesh Gautam, who works at a private firm in Delhi and resides in Sector 93, said these diversions have forced him to travel more and also contend with congestion on internal roads. “For the past three to four days, I have been observing that the Noida traffic police is diverting traffic from Chilla to internal roads, where we encounter even more congestion,” he said.

“There is a straight road I can take to reach the Noida expressway, but they divert the traffic onto Udhyog Marg, from where we have to take several turns and manoeuvre through busy internal roads to reach the expressway,” he said.

However, Noida traffic police argued that the diversion is being enforced to decongest Film City Road, where traffic from the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway, Film City, and Chilla border merges.

“To prevent long tailbacks from Film City Road to Chilla border, we have started diverting Chilla traffic to internal roads to reach the Noida expressway,” said Lakhan Singh Yadav, deputy commissioner of police, traffic.

“The diversion only comes into force when traffic police personnel deployed around Film City observe heavy traffic. Once traffic pressure eases on Film City Road, the diversions are lifted,” he said.

According to officials, the traffic police are now looking for alternatives to decongest Film City Road, where traffic from three roads merges.

According to a survey by the traffic police, around 220,000 vehicles cross the DND loop every day, and 110,000 vehicles pass through the Chilla border. Traffic coming from ITO, Mayur Vihar and Akshardham use the Chilla border to reach Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

A senior traffic official, who regularly monitors traffic at DND and Chilla Border, said, “We are deploying around 56 personnel during peak hours from 5pm to 9pm to avoid congestion on the DND loop that connects Film City to the expressway,” he said.

Notably, the Noida authority has also started a road widening project on Film City Road. This involves adding an extra lane by merging the left sidewalk to carriageway. The work is currently in progress, said officials.