It takes Pawan Bahl, an advocate living in Sukhdev Vihar, 20-30 minutes to cross the Ashram intersection on his way to the Delhi high court, where construction on a much-delayed underpass that is, ironically, meant to ease traffic congestion has become one of Delhi’s worst choke points. A few years ago it would take him that much time to reach the court itself. It’s bad through the day. And it is worse during peak traffic.
It isn’t just Ashram, though. On Monday, the TomTom traffic index, which looks at traffic congestion in various cities across the globe using real-time traffic data, assessed that there were 265 traffic jams on the arterial roads of Delhi even before the peak commuting hours started. The live number of snarls reached 484 by 8pm.
The 11th annual edition of the global traffic index found that Delhiites wasted almost double the normal commuting time on roads due to traffic snarls in 2021. Delhi was the 11th most congested city, with 48% congestion level last year. That means a 40 minute commute to work becomes an hour-long journey.
Experts point to two reasons why Delhi suffers: high private vehicle ownership; and ongoing construction work in arterial corridors. Indeed, the ripple effect of the congestion at these choke points radiates even into neighbourhood roads. Key projects such as the Ashram underpass and flyover extension, the RTR underpass on Ring Road, six underpasses and a tunnel in Pragati Maidan, two half underpasses near Wazirabad on Ring Road are all among projects that have missed multiple deadlines, and which add both to the daily chaos of commuting and the everyday frustration of imagining what could have been.
HT visited several of these sites on Monday and found poor site management, storage of construction material on pavements, dug-up roads, and, of course, the ubiquitous barricades.
The dug-up section of ring road near South Campus for San Martin Marg underpass is yet to be repaired even as the key component of the RTR project slowly inches towards completion almost seven years after it was initiated. Surender Kumar, who operates a cab service in this area, said that the traffic jams start from Moti Bagh gurdwara and continue till Dhaula Kuan. “For the past six months, half of Ring Road has been barricaded. We avoid this route and go via Delhi Cantonment at night, as people can remain stuck near Dhaula Kuan for hours. This site has remained a mess over the past five or six years.”
The engineer-in-chief of the state Public Works Department (PWD) did not respond to requests for comment.
S Velmurugan, chief scientist at the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) said that Delhi has over 33,000km of road network, of which 13,000km of arterial and sub-arterial roads bear 80% of the traffic load, the reason why the impact of these congestion points is felt across the city.
“Delayed construction projects such as Ashram, Pragati Maidan and other underpasses have become major congestion nodes with ripple effects felt on collector roads. Even other major corridors are affected due to diversions. For instance, CV Raman Road is impacted due to the Ashram project.”
A local traffic police official, who asked not to be named, seconded this and said choke points cripple other routes. “In a bid to avoid Ashram chowk, many commuters moving from South Delhi or Gurugram towards Noida or Mayur Vihar now take the AIIMS-Barapullah route, which becomes completed jammed at peak hours, while the snarls have also increased on the flyover near Raj Nagar and Bhikaji Cama Place along the route.”
The TomTom index estimates that congestion levels at peak hours in Delhi rise to 77% in the evenings and 53% during mornings, with people wasting 152 hours a year during these hours. That’s a little over six days
Experts say poor site management has added to the disorder. For instance, HT found that at Ashram intersection, the barricades obstruct traffic (they were supposed to be removed in November); several of the approach roads have been dug up further, restricting the carriageway; and construction material is stored on pavements, forcing pedestrians onto the road. The underpass is expected to be opened for traffic next month and the state PWD is currently installing covers on the approach ramps, an official of the agency said on condition of anonymity. It was initially expected to be completed by December 2020, and six deadlines have been missed so far.
A similar number of deadlines have been missed in the Pragati Maidan corridor development project where a 1.2km-long tunnel and six underpasses are being constructed. The initial deadline for project was March 2019.
Similarly, construction work on developing two half underpasses for U-turns on Outer Ring Road between Wazirabad and Burari is now running 1.5 years beyond deadline, leading to snarls at places like Majnu ka Tilla and Burari roundabout.
Barapullah Phase 3 has overshot its October 2017 deadline due to land acquisition issues. HT recently reported how the repair work for cave-in site at Lala Lajpat Rai Marg has now entered its third month leading to spillover of traffic jam to Barapullah, Ashram and Lodhi Road and disrupting movement on the second major arterial road leading towards central Delhi.
Professor Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning at the School of Planning and Architecture, said these half-a-dozen congestion points have made commuting times unpredictable. “This also prevents people from choosing reliable public transport options”.
The solution , according to him, is “ comprehensive hotspot planning, more intelligent deployment of traffic police , and segregation of regional and local traffic on the lines of Delhi Meerut expressway.”
A second PWD official blamed the delays on the pandemic. “We are faced migration of labourer and complete shutdown of work. There have been multiple prolonged construction bans and other restrictions on construction activities which have added to delays. We have been working under very difficult circumstances. Many of these projects have faced legal hurdles and problems related to shifting of underground utilities.”
A Delhi government spokesperson said, “The Delhi government is actively working on traffic decongestion throughout the city. The Pragati Maidan and Ashram underpass projects are expected to be operational very soon. We believe these projects will be essential in decongesting traffic significantly, and the subsequent projects will only aid to the cause.”
But the price is ultimately paid by people — like the 350,000 commuters who pass Ashram everyday. On Monday evening, Niharika Jain, jumped out of a taxi, and, luggage in hand, decided she was better off walking to the Nizamuddin Railway Station if she wanted to make it in time for her train.
