Metro construction, poor planning add to traffic chaos at Ashram intersection
than 21 metres of road space which is much more than the prescribed space for traffic movement,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.
Being an arterial road— which is a connecting link between central, south, and east Delhi—the commuters have no other option but to use this stretch for transit, knowing the traffic here moves at snail’s pace during peak hours in the morning at evening.
Roads dug up for Metro construction, constant road repair, lack of ample traffic officials to man traffic, and illegal parking on the sides of the roads have made the situation worse for commuters who are often stuck in incessant jams.
Vinay Kumar Rai, who was spotted at the Ashram bus stop on Sunday, said he had boarded the bus early on Sunday to reach Maharani Bagh (his parents’ house) from Noida to attend his younger brother’s birthday party. However, the early departure did not help as the long jam around Okhla, Govindpuri and New Friends Colony delayed him.
“I had planned to reach home early today but here the jams on a Sunday too are just as bad as it is during weekdays. The bus was stuck in the jam for about 45 minutes. I decided to walk from Kalkaji to Ashram and it took me half an hour to reach here,” he said.
Commuters also complained that it is very rare to find a traffic official manning traffic on the stretch. However, Delhi Traffic Police officials refuted the allegation.
“We have a team of traffic officials especially deployed at the junction and according to the severity of the traffic more officials are added. During peak hours when the traffic is heavy it is our team which ensures that there is no logjam. But the construction activities on the stretch surely makes things difficult,” said a senior traffic official.
The official said that the construction by the Delhi Metro has eaten up most of the road space and the sheer number of vehicles which cross the stretch makes manning this intersection very difficult.
“An entire carriageway has