Road work makes chaotic Patparganj junction worse
NEW DELHI: Crossing the intersection adjacent to the Mother Dairy headquarters in Patparganj towards the Laxmi Nagar Metro station has always been problematic for commuters. But in the past week, the situation has worsened as a section of the road has been closed for repair.
High volume of traffic and lack of traffic officials manning the intersection has always been a a nightmare for commuters who have to use the route regularly, but the past few days, the situation has been made worse by repair and road relaying work being carried out by the Delhi Jal Board and the Public Works Department (PWD).
Commuters said the road from Patparganj towards Mayur Vihar has been restricted for traffic movement in the past week. Repairs have brought traffic on this stretch to a standstill.
“The route is always choked, but it has been made worse by the repair work. The problem is that usually they close a portion of the road to carry on the repairs. This time, however, no passage is allowed. It becomes a problem especially at night, when most exit gates in this area are closed,” said Sagar Parashar, a resident of IP Extension.
PWD officials in the area said the work has been completed and commuters will regain complete access on the stretch by Tuesday.
Commuters said even with the road being thrown open again, there are some basic problems on the stretch, which if not fixed, will continue to make the route a bottleneck.
› The problem is that they usually close a portion of the road for repairs. This time, no passage is allowed. It becomes a problem especially at night, when most exit gates in this area are closed. SAGAR PARASHAR, IP Ext resident
The intersection, which has a market opposite Mother Dairy, has several cars and two-wheelers illegally parked on the roadside. The road also has auto-rickshaws crawling on one side of the carriageway in search of passengers from the market.
Some distance away, closer to the Laxmi Nagar Metro station,, the auto and battery operated rickshaws continue to create a traffic mess.
During evenings, street vendors also set shop on the side of the intersection. “By the evening, street vendors also take over a lane, and drivers have to find their way through the remaining space,” said Lalita Dhingan, a regular commuter.
Delhi Police officials said that regular drives are carried out on the intersection to check of encroachment, and ease traffic movement on the stretch.
“This area is quite crowded and experiences high traffic movement. We deploy officials on the intersection to regularly monitor the traffic flow there and also conduct drives to ensure vehicles are not illegally parked,” said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Alok Kumar.